PRESIDENT  WILSON'S 

FOREIGN   POLICY 

/ 

MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES,  PAPERS 

EDITED  WITH  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES 
BY 

JAMES  BROWN  SCOTT  , 

Author  of  "  A  Survey  of  International  Relations  between  the 
United   States   and   Germany,   August    1,    1914-April 
6,  1917,"  Editor  of  "Diplomatic  Correspond 
ence  between  the  United  States  and 
Germany,  August  1,  1914- 
April  6,  1917  " 


Governments  are  instituted  among  Men,  deriving  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed. 

— The  Unanimous  Declaration  of  the  Thirteen  United 
States  of  America,  July  4,  -H76. 

The  law  of  nations  is  founded  upon  reason  and  justice,  and 
the  rules  of  conduct  governing  individual  relations  between 
citizens  or  subjects  of  a  civilized  state  are  equally  applicable 
as  between  enlightened  nations. 

— President  Cleveland's  Special  Message  to  Congress, 
December  18,  1893. 

The  world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy. 

— President     Wilson's     War    Address    to     Congress, 
April  2,  1911. 


NEW  YORK 


OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

AMERICAN  BRANCH:  35  WEST  82xo  STRERT 
LONDON.  TORONTO.  MELBOURNE,  AND  BOMBAY 

1918 


COPYRIGHT  1918 

BT   THE 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
AMERICAN  BRANCH 


3°, 


THE   OUINN    «    10DEN    CO.  PRESS 


PUBLISHERS'    PREFACE 

The  publishers  announce,  separate  and  distinct  from,  but  to  be 
used  in  connection  with  the  present  volume,  the  Diplomatic  Cor 
respondence  Between  the  United  States  and  Germany,  from  August  1, 
1914,  to  April  6,  1917,  the  date  of  the  declaration  of  a  state  of  war 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  against  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  and  a  Survey  of  International  Relations  Between  the 
United  States  and  Germany,  during  the  same  period.  These  volumes 
are  of  the  same  format  as  President  Wilson's  Foreign  Policy. 

President  Wilson's  views  upon  foreign  policy  were  important 
during  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States,  and  it  is  even  more 
important  to  understand  them  now,  inasmuch  as  they  are  the  views 
of  the  United  States  at  war  and  indicate  in  no  uncertain  way  the 
attitude  which  the  United  States  under  President  Wilson's  guidance 
may  be  expected  to  assume  in  the  negotiations  which  must  one  day 
bring  about  peace  to  a  long-suffering  and  war-ridden  world.  This 
volume  is  of  interest  to  Mr.  Wilson's  countrymen;  it  is  of  interest 
to  the  belligerents;  it  is  of  interest  to  the  neutrals,  whose  cause  Mr. 
Wilson  has  championed. 

The  differences  of  opinion,  crystallizing  into  opposition,  and 
resulting  eventually  in  war  between  the  United  States  and  Germany, 
are  stated  clearly,  unmistakably,  and  officially  in  the  Diplomatic 
Correspondence  between  the  two  Governments  since  the  outbreak  of 
the  European  War  in  1914,  and  up  to  the  declaration  of  war  by 
the  United  States  because  of  the  controversies  between  the  two 
countries.  The  Diplomatic  Correspondence  makes  the  case  of  the 
United  States,  just  as  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence  is  the  defense 
of  Germany.  Upon  this  Correspondence  each  country  rests  its  case, 
and  upon  this  Correspondence  each  is  to  be  judged.  It  is  thought 
best  to  present  it  in  a  volume  by  itself,  disconnected  from  narrative 


iv  PUBLISHERS'    PREFACE 

or  from  correspondence  with  other  belligerent  nations,  which  would 
indeed  have  been  interesting  but  not  material  to  the  present  case. 

The  Survey  of  International  Relations  Between  the  United  States 
and  Germany  aims  to  give  an  authentic  account  of  the  conduct  of 
the  United  States  during  the  period  of  its  neutrality,  and  the  attitude 
of  the  Imperial  Government  towards  the  United  States.  An  extended 
introduction  is  prefixed,  setting  forth  the  views  of  monarchs,  states- 
re  3n,  and  publicists  of  that  country,  showing  the  German  conception 
o.  the  State,  International  Policy  and  International  Law.  The 
narrative  giving  the  views  of  both  Governments  is  based  upon  the 
pocuments  contained  in  the  volume  of  Diplomatic  Correspondence 
Between  the  United  States  and  Germany. 

The  publishers  have  pleasure  in  announcing  that  Mr.  Scott  has 
directed  that  the  royalties  due  him  for  these  volumes  be  presented  to 
the  Department  of  State  War  Relief  Work  Committee,  of  which  Mrs. 
Robert  Lansing  is  President. 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS. 

American  Branch. 
April  16,  1918. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGES 

Introduction xi-xiv 

Address  on  Mexican  Affairs,  to  the  Congress,  August  27, 

1913 1-10 

Address  at  rededication  of  Congress  Hall,   Philadelphia, 

October  25,  1913 11-18 

Address   before    Southern    Commercial    Congress,    Mobile, 

October  27,  1913 19-26 

First  Annual  Address  to  the  Congress,  December  2, 1913     .         27-30 

Address  to  the  Congress  on. Panama  Tolls,  March  5,  1914    .         31-32 

Address  to  the  Congress  on  Mexican  Affairs,  April  20,  1914        33-37 
^Address  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard,  May  11,  1914      .       .         38^2 

Address  at  unveiling  of  statue  to  memory  of  Commodore 

Barry,  Washington,  May  16,  1914 43-47 

Address  to  the  Graduating  Class  of  the  United  States  Naval 

Academy,  June  5,  1914 48-54 

Address  at  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia,  July  4,  1914  .         55-65 
•  American  Neutrality,  Appeal  to  Citizens  of  the  Republic, 

August  18,  1914 66-68 

Address   before   American   Bar   Association,    Washington, 

October  20,  1914 69-70 

^Second  Annual  Address  to  the  Congress,  December  8,  1914        71-83 

Address   at   the   Associated   Press   Luncheon,   New   York, 

April  20,  1915       ...  .  84-91 

Address  to  newly  naturalized  American  citizens,  Philadel 
phia,  May  10,  1915 92-97 

Address    at    Luncheon    tendered    the    President    by    the 

Mayor's  Committee,  New  York,  May  17,  1915       .       .       98-101 

Address  at  the  Pan-American  Financial  Conference,  Wash 
ington,  May  24,  1915 102-105 

Address  to  the  Daughters   of  the  American  Revolution, 

Washington,  October  11,  1915  ....  .     106-114 


VI 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


• 


Address  at  fiftieth  anniversary  dinner  of  the  Manhattan 

Club,  New  York,  November  4,  1915  ..... 
Third  Annual  Address  to  the  Congress,  December  7,  1915  . 
Address  before  the  Pan  American  Scientific  Congress, 

Washington,  January  6,  1916    ...... 

Address  delivered  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  January  29,  1916     . 
Letter  to  Senator  Stone,  February  24,  1916  .       .       .       . 

Letter  to  Representative  Pou,  February  29,  1916  .  .  . 
Address  delivered  before  the  Congress,  April  19,  1916  .  . 
Address  at  first  annual  assemblage  of  the  League  to  Enforce 

Peace,  May  27,  1916    ........ 

Address  on  Memorial  Day,  Arlington,  May  30,  1916  .  . 
Address  to  the  Graduating  Class  at  the  United  States  Mili 

tary  Academy,  June  13,  1916  ...... 

X"  Address  on  Flag  Day,  Washington,  June  14,  1916  .  . 
Address  before  Salesmanship  Congress,  Detroit,  July  10, 

1916         .........  . 

Address  at  Toledo,  July  10,  1916     ...... 

Address  on  accepting  renomination  for  the  Presidency, 

September  2,  1916       ........ 

r"  Peace  Notes  to  the  Belligerent  Governments,  dated  Decem 

ber  18,  1916  .....       ..... 

Address  to  the  Senate,  January  22,  1917     .... 

Address  to  the  Congress,  announcing  the  severance  of  diplo 

matic  relations  with  Germany,  February  3,  1917  .  . 
Address  on  Armed  Neutrality,  before  the  Congress, 

February  26,  1917       .        .       .       .       .       .       .       . 

Second  Inaugural  Address,  Washington,  March  5,  1917  . 
Address  to  the  Congress  recommending  declaration  of  a 

state  of  war  with  Germany,  April  2,  1917  .  .  . 
Address  to  his  fellow-countrymen  concerning  the  war  with 

Germany,  April  15,  1917     ......     ".- 

Address  at  the  dedication  of  the  Eed  Cross  Building,  Wash 

ington,  May  12,  1917  .  .  .  .  ,  .  ... 
Address  on  Memorial  Day  at  Arlington,  May  30,  1917  . 
Address  at  the  Confederate  Reunion,  Washington,  June  6, 

1917 


115-125 
126-153 

154-162 
163-175 
176-178 
179-180 
181-188 

189-195 
196-202 

203-211 
212-217 

218-224 
225-226 

227-234 

235-244 
245-254 

255-260 

261-267 

268-273 

274-287 
288-294 

295-299 
300-302 

303-307 


Address  on  Flag  Day;  Washington,  June  14,  1917 

Communication  t6  the  Provisional  Government  of  Russia, 
June  9,  1917 

Reply  to  the  Peace  appeal  of  the  Pope,  August  27,  1917     . 

Address  before  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  Buffalo, 
November  12,  1917 

Telegram  to  the  Northwest  Loyalty  Meetings,  St.  Paul, 
November  16,  1917 

Telegram  to  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  November  17,  1917  . 

Address  to  the  Congress,  recommending  the  declaration  of 
a  state  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  Austria- 
Hungary,  December  4,  1917 

Address  to  the  Congress  on  the  conditions  of  peace,  Jan 
uary  8,  1918  .  

Address  to  the  Congress  on  the  Addresses  of  the  German 
Chancellor  and  the  Austro-Hungarian  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  February  11,  1918  .  . 

Address  at  opening  of  Third  Liberty  Loan  campaign, 
Baltimore,  April  6,  1918 


vii 

PAGES 

308-317 

318-321 
322-325 

326-336 

337 

338 


339-353 
354-363 

364-373 
374-380 


APPENDIX 

1 — Mexico.     The  record  of  a  conversation  with  President 

Wilson.    By  Samuel  G.  Blythe  .       .       .       .       /      .     383-391 

2 — The  President's  Mexican  Policy — Presented  in  an 
authorized  interview  by  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
Franklin  K.  Lane,  July  16,  1916  .....  392-406 

3 — Article  on  Mexican  question,  in  Ladies'  Home  Journal, 

October,  1916        .     .         .......     407-410 

\/4 — Memorandum  on  the  right  of  American  citizens  to  travel 
upon  armed  merchant  ships,  transmitted  to  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  March  4,  1916 411-424 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

President  Wilson's  messages  and  addresses,  delivered  during  his 
first  term  of  office  and  within  the  first  few  months  of  his  second 
inauguration,  cover  a  wide  range  of  subjects,  as  was  natural,  given 
the  international  situation  and  the  measures  necessary  to  be  taken 
in  order  to  cope  with  it.  They  fall,  logically,  into  two  classes:  those 
dealing  with  foreign  and  those  dealing  with  domestic  affairs.  The 
first  category  is  susceptible  of  a  threefold  division:  those  dealing  • 
with  themutrality  of  the  United  St.at.pa  in  the  war  which  may  be  said 
to  have  begun  by  Germany's  declaration  of  a  state  of  war  against 
Russia  on  the  1st  day  of  August,  1914;  those  delivered  when  war 
between  the  United  States  and  Germany  loomed  large  upon  the 
horizon  and  seemed,  unless  the  unexpected  should  happen,  to  be  but 
a  mere  question  of  time;  and  those  delivered  after  the  outbreak  of 
war,  when  the  ship  of  state,  so  to  speak,  had  cast  off  its  neutral 
moorings,  and  had  put  out  to  sea  with  its  allies  in  the  contest  of 
democracy  against  autocratic  rulers  apparently  bound  on  world 
domination. 

And  yet,  if  we  analyze  President  Wilson's  messages  and  addresses 
on  foreign  policy — for  his  views  on  domestic  questions  may  be  omitted, 
except  in  so  far  as  they  relate  to  foreign  policy — -we  find  that,  whether 
delivered  before  the  war  of  1914,  during  the  period  of  American 
neutrality,  or  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war  between  Germany  and 
the  United  States,  when  President  Wilson  was  speaking  as  the  chiefV 
executive  of  a  belligerent  country,  they  are  but  the  varying  expres 
sions  of  a  singie;  definite,  conscious  purpose,  namely,  the  strengthening 
of  constitutional  government  where  it  existed,  leavened  with  democ 
racy,  and  the  introduction  of  constitutional  government  where  it  did 
not  exist,  of  a  democratic  nature  or  tendency.  The  future,  in  President 
Wilson's  conception,  belongs  to  democracy — the  world  must  be  made 
safe_for  democracy;  and,  although  he  does  not  say  it  in  express 
terms,  democracy  must  be  made  safe  for  the  world  by  instruction  in 
its  duties  as  well  as  in  its  rights  and  by  the  performance  of  its  duties 
in  the  same  degree  as  the  insistence  upon  its  rights.  The,  strain  of 
democracy  runs  through  all  of  his  messages  and  addresses  as  a  golden 
thread,  and  the  means  to  bring  about  constitutional  government — 

xi 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

which,  in  the  President's  mind,  is  apparently  synonymous  with 
democratic  government — is  from  within,  not  from  without,  is  by 
moral,  not  by  physical  force.  Thus,  in  an  address  delivered  on 
June  30,  JL916,  before  the  Press  Club  in  New  York  City,  President 
Wilson  said7~~ 

I  have  not  read  history  without  observing  that  the  greatest  forces 
in  the  world  and  the  only  permanent  forces  are  the  moral  forces. 

We  have  the  evidence  of  a  very  competent  witness,  namely,  the 
first  Napoleon,  who  said  that  as  he  looked  back  in  the  last  days  of 
his  life  upon  so  much  as  he  knew  of  human  history  he  had  to  record 
the  judgment  that  force  had  never  accomplished  anything  that  was 
permanent. 

Force  will  not  accomplish  anything  that  is  permanent,  I  venture 
to  say,  in  the  great  struggle  which  is  now  going  on  on  the  other 
side  of  the  sea.  The  permanent  things  will  be  accomplished  after 
wards,  when  the  opinion  of  mankind  is  brought,  to  bear  upon  the 
issues,  and  the  only  thing  that  will  hold  the  world  steady  is  this  same 
silent,  insistent,  all-powerful  opinion  of  mankind. 

Force  can  sometimes  hold  things  steady  until  opinion  has  time 
to  form,  but  no  force  that  was  ever  exerted,  except  in  response  to 
that  opinion,  was  ever  a  conquering  and  predominant  force. 

I  think  the  sentence  in  American  history  that  I  myself  am  proudest 
of  is  that  in  the  introductory  sentences  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  where  the  writers  say  that  a  due  respect  for  the  opinion 
of  mankind  demands  that  they  state  the  reasons  for  what  they  are 
about  to  do. 

President  Wilson  believes  and  therefore  states,  as  will  be  apparent 
even  to  the  casual  reader  of  his  messages  and  addresses  on  foreign 
.policy,  that  there  is  but  one  standard  of  justice  for  the  individual 

L#-  v   *  -i  ri     i  -.  i^ .•.  |          .»• 

jfes  well  as  for  the  state;  that  what  is  wrong  for  the  individual 
cannot  be  right  for  the  state,  and  what  is  right  for  the  state  should 
not  be  wrong  for  the  individual.  Thus,  in  the  fateful  address  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  on  April  2,  1917,  advocating  the 
declaration  of  war  against  the  Imperial  German  Government,  he 
said,  after  referring  to  his  addresses  of  the  22d  of  January,  of  the 
3d  of  February,  and  of  the  26th  of  February  to  the  Congress: 

Our  object  now,  as  then,  is  to  vindicate  the  principles  of  peace 
and  justice  in  the  life  of  the  world  as  against  selfish  and  autocratic 
power  and  to  set  up  amongst  the  really  free  and  self-governed  peoples 
of  the  world  such  a  concert  of  purpose  and  of  action  as  will  henceforth 
insure  the  observance  of  those  principles.  .  .  .  We  are  at  the  begin 
ning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will  be  insisted  that  the  same  standards 
of  conduct  and  of  responsibility  for  wrong  done  shall  be  observed 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

among  nations  and  their  governments  that  are  observed  among  the 
individual  citizens  of  civilized  states. 

This  standard  which  he  set  for  others  he  has  exacted  of  the 
United  States;  and  to  public  opinion,  which  he  asserts  to  be  the 
greatest  of  forces,  both  he  and  the  nation  whereof  he  is  the  chief 
executive,  have  bowed.  Thus,  President  Wilson  urged  the  Congress 
to  repeal  the  provision  of  the  Panama  Canal  Act  of  August  24,  1912, 
exempting  vessels  engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade  of  the  United  States 
from  the  payment  of  tolls,  on  the  ground  that  the  exemption  of 
American  vessels — for  it  is  only  American  vessels  that  can  engage  in 
the  coastwise  trade  of  the  United  States — if  not  contrary  in  fact 
to  the  provisions  of  the  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty  of  November  18, 
1901,  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  came  nevertheless 
in  conflict  with  the  public  opinion  of  the  world  and  was  inconsistent 
with  the  provisions  of  that  treaty  and  therefore  with  the  plighted  word 
of  the  United  States.  In  his  address  to  the  Congress  on  March  5, 
1914,  he  said: 

Whatever  may  be  our  own  differences  of  opinion  concerning  this 
much  debated  measure,  its  meaning  is  not  debated  outside  the  United 
States.  Everywhere  else  the  language  of  the  treaty  is  given  but  one 
interpretation,  and  that  interpretation  precludes  the  exemption  I  am 
asking  you  to  repeal.  We  consented  to  the  treaty;  its  language  we 
accepted,  if  we  did  not  originate  it ;  and  we  are  too  big,  too  powerful, 
too  self-respecting  a  nation  to  interpret  with  a  too  strained  or  refined 
reading  the  words  of  our  own  promises  just  because  we  have  power 
enough  to  give  us  leave  to  read  them  as  we  please.  The  large  thing 
to  do  is  the  only  thing  we  can  afford  to  do,  a  voluntary  withdrawal 
from  a  position  everywhere  questioned  and  misunderstood.  We 
ought  to  reverse  our  action  without  raising  the  question  whether  we 
were  right  or  wrong,  and  so  once  more  deserve  our  reputation  for 
generosity  and  for  the  redemption  of  every  obligation  without  quibble 
or  hesitation. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  in  this,  statement  of  the  case,  a  strained  or 
even  a  defensible  interpretation  was  not  to  be  made  in  order  to  profit 
the  United  States,  for  morality  and  justice  go  hand  in  hand.  An_ 
N  y^cquisition  at  the  expense  of  morality  and  of  justice  and  the  posses- 
Xr  siohs  of  nations  are  not  to  beHseizeoTTjy  physical-fore^any  more  than 
the  property  of  the  individual  is  to  be  taken  by  the  strong  hand. 
This  conception,  axiomatic  with  President  Wilson,  has  been  repeatedly 
stated  by  him  in  his  public  addresses,  and  never  more  solemnly  than 
in  his  address  of  April  2,  1917,  to  the  Congress,  advocating  the  war 
with  Germany : 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no  conquest,  no 
dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves,  no  material  com 
pensation  for  the  sacrifices  we  shall  freely  make.  We  are  but  one 
of  the  champions  of  the  rights  of  mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied 
when  those  rights  have  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the 
freedom  of  nations  can  make  them. 

Planting  himself  squarely  upon  the  fqundatio.ns  of  right,. interna 
tional  as  well  as  national,  advocating  for  nations  the  standard  of 
justice  prevailing  among  individuals,  disclaiming  any  acquisitions 
for  his  country  which  the  law,  even  of  his  own  country,  as  interpreted 
by  the  public  opinion  of  mankind,  did  not  permit,  President  Wilson 
might  well  say,  as  he  did  in  his  address  of  June  30,  1916,  before  the 
.  Press  Club  in  the  City  of  New  York : 


So,  gentlemen,  I  am  willing,  no  matter  what  my  personal  fortunes 
'   may  be,  to  play  for  the  verdict  of  mankind. 


JAMES  BROWN  SCOTT. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 
January  11,  1918. 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES,  PAPERS 


ADDRESS    ON    MEXICAN    AFFAIRS    DELIV 
ERED  AT  A  JOINT  SESSION  OF  THE 
TWO    HOUSES    OF    CONGRESS, 
AUGUST  27,  1913 

A  sympathetic  yet  discriminating  critic  of  Mexico,  the  late  John  W. 
Foster,  formerly  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States,  was  accustomed  to  say 
that  the  one  great  and  fundamental  mistake  of  the  late  Porfirio  Diaz,  President 
of  Mexico  from  1876-1880,  1884-1911,  was  that  he  did  not  educate  his  fellow- 
countrymen  in  the  practice  and  the  responsibilities  of  constitutional  government, 
and  that,  because  of  his  failure  so  to  do,  he  was  leaving  his  countrymen  without 
training  in  government  and  without  a  leader  to  succeed  him  trained  in  a  con 
stitutional  regime.  From  time  to  time  rebellions  broke  out,  which  were 
speedily  crushed.  In  19-11,  however,  a  serious  insurrection,  under  the  leader 
ship  of  Francisco  I.  Madero,  caused  President  Diaz,  his  Vice-President  and 
the  members  of  his  cabinet  to  resign;  whereupon  Francisco  de  la  Barra,  who 
had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  State,  succeeded  to  the  presidency  ad  interim 
until  an  election  could  be  held.  At  this  election,  held  on  October  15,  1911,  Mr. 
Madero  was  chosen  President  of  Mexico.  A  rebellion  under  the  leadership  of 
Felix  Diaz,  nephew  of  the  late  President,  broke  out,  and  as  a  consequence 
Madero  and  his  Vice-President,  yielding  to  the  pressure  of  General  Victoriano 
Huerta,  resigned  under  duress  and  Huerta,  Secretary  of  War,  became  by  the 
resignation  of  Madero,  the  President,  Vice-President  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign. 
Affairs,  President  ad  interim.  His  authority  as  such  was  not  recognized  by 
his  countrymen  as  a  whole,  although  it  might  have  been  had  not  Madero  and 
the  Vice-President,  on  their  way  from  the  palace  to  the  prison,  been  assas 
sinated,  in  which  assassination,  rightly  or  wrongly,  Huerta  was  implicated. 
Carranza,  under  Madero,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Chihuahua,  opposed  Huerta, 
and,  gathering  around  him  a  strong  body  of  partisans  under  the  title  of  Con 
stitutionalists,  he  was  eventually  recognized  by  the  United  States  as  President 
de  facto  on  October  19,  1915.  He  was  elected  President  on  March  11,  1917;  an 
American  Ambassador  had  in  the  meantime  been  appointed,  on  February  25, 
1916,  and  had  repaired  to  Mexico,  and  on  February  17,  1917,  Carranza's  govern 
ment  was  recognized  by  the  United  States  not  merely  as  the  de  facto  but  as  the 
duly  constituted  government  of  Mexico. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

It  is  clearly  my  duty  to  lay  before  you,  very  fully  and 
without  reservation,  the  facts  concerning  our  present 
relations  with  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  The  deplorable 

posture  of  affairs  in  Mexico  I  need  not  describe,  but  I 

i 


2  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

deem  it  my  duty  to  speak  very  frankly  of  what  this 
Government  has  done  and  should  seek  to  do  in  f ulfillment 
of  its  obligation  to  Mexico  herself,  as  a  friend  and  neigh 
bor,  and  to  American  citizens  whose  lives  and  vital  inter 
ests  are  daily  affected  by  the  distressing  conditions  which 
now  obtain  beyond  our  southern  border. 

Those  conditions  touch  us  very  nearly.  Not  merely 
because  they  lie  at  our  very  doors.  That  of  course  makes 
us  more  vividly  and  more  constantly  conscious  of  them, 
and  every  instinct  of  neighborly  interest  and  sympathy 
is  aroused  and  quickened  by  them;  but  that  is  only  one 
element  in  the  determination  of  our  duty.  We  are  glad 
to  call  ourselves  the  friends  of  Mexico,  and  we  shall,  I 
hope,  have  many  an  occasion,  in  happier  times  as  well  as 
in  these  days  of  trouble  and  confusion,  to  show  that  our 
friendship  is  genuine  and  disinterested,  capable  of  sacri 
fice  and  every  generous  manifestation.  The  peace,  pros 
perity,  and  contentment  of  Mexico  mean  more,  much 
more,  to  us  than  merely  an  enlarged  field  for  our  com 
merce  and  enterprise.  They  mean  an  enlargement  of  the 
field  of  self-government  and  the  realization  of  the  hopes 
and  rights  of  a  nation  with  whose  best  aspirations,  so 
long  suppressed  and  disappointed,  we  deeply  sympathize. 
We  shall  yet  prove  to  the  Mexican  people  that  we  know 
how  to  serve  them  without  first  thinking  how  we  shall 
serve  ourselves. 

But  we  are  not  the  only  friends  of  Mexico.  The  whole 
world  desires  her  peace  and  progress;  and  the  whole 
world  is  interested  as  never  before.  Mexico  lies  at  last 
where  all  the  world  looks  on.  Central  America  is  about 
to  be  touched  by  the  great  routes  of  the  world's  trade 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  3 

and  intercourse  running  free  from  ocean  to  ocean  at  the 
Isthmus.  The  future  has  much  in  store  for  Mexico,  as 
for  all  the  States  of  Central  America ;  but  the  best  gifts 
can  come  to  her  only  if  she  be  ready  and  free  to  receive 
them  and  to  enjoy  them  honorably.  America  in  particu 
lar — America  north  and  south  and  upon  both  continents — 
waits  upon  the  development  of  Mexico;  and  that  devel 
opment  can  be  sound  and  lasting  only  if  it  be  the  product 
of  a  genuine  freedom,  a  just  and  ordered  government 
founded  upon  law.  Only  so  can  it  be  peaceful  or  fruitful 
of  the  benefits  of  peace.  Mexico  has  a  great  and  enviable 
future  before  her,  if  only  she  choose  and  attain  the  paths 
of  honest  constitutional  government. 

The  present  circumstances  of  the  Republic,  I  deeply 
regret  to  say,  do  not  seem  to  promise  even  the  foundations 
of  such  a  peace.  We  have  waited  many  months,  months 
full  of  peril  and  anxiety,  for  the  conditions  there  to 
improve,  and  they  have  not  improved.  They  have  grown 
worse,  rather.  The  territory  in  some  sort  controlled  by 
the  provisional  authorities  at  Mexico  City  has  grown 
smaller,  not  larger.  The  prospect  of  the  pacification  of 
the  country,  even  by  arms,  has  seemed  to  grow  more  and 
more  remote;  and  its  pacification  by  the  authorities  at 
the  capital  is  evidently  impossible  by  any  other  means 
than  force.  Difficulties  more  and  more  entangle  those 
who  claim  to  constitute  the  legitimate  government  of  the 
Republic.  They  have  not  made  good  their  claim  in  fact. 
Their  successes  in  the  field  have  proved  only  temporary. 
War  and  disorder,  devastation  and  confusion,  seem  to 
threaten  to  become  the  settled  fortune  of  the  distracted 
country.  As  friends  we  could  wait  no  longer  for  a  solu- 


4  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

tion  which  every  week  seemed  further  away.  It  was 
our  duty  at  least  to  volunteer  our  good  offices — to  offer 
to  assist,  if  we  might,  in  effecting  some  arrangement 
which  would  bring  relief  and  peace  and  set  up  a  univer 
sally  acknowledged  political  authority  there. 

Accordingly,  I  took  the  liberty  of  sending  the  Hon. 
John  Lind,  formerly  governor  of  Minnesota,  as  my  per 
sonal  spokesman  and  representative,  to  the  City  of 
Mexico,  with  the  following  instructions: 

1  'Press  very  earnestly  upon  the  attention  of  those 
who  are  now  exercising  authority  or  wielding  influ 
ence  in  Mexico  the  following  considerations  and 
advice : 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  feel 
at  liberty  any  longer  to  stand  inactively  by  while  it 
becomes  daily  more  and  more  evident  that  no  real  prog 
ress  is  being  made  towards  the  establishment  of  a  govern 
ment  at  the  City  of  Mexico  which  the  country  will  obey 
and  respect. 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  does  not 
stand  in  the  same  case  with  the  other  great  Govern 
ments  of  the  world  in  respect  of  what  is  happening 
or  what  is  likely  to  happen  in  Mexico.  We  offer  our 
good  offices,  not  only  because  of  our  genuine  desire  to 
play  the  part  of  a  friend,  but  also  because  we  are 
expected  by  the  powers  of  the  world  to  act  as  Mexico's 
nearest  friend. 

"We  wish  to  act  in  these  circumstances  in  the  spirit 
of  the  most  earnest  and  disinterested  friendship.  It  is 
our  purpose  in  whatever  we  do  or  propose  in  this  per 
plexing  and  distressing  situation  not  only  to  pay  the 
most  scrupulous  regard  to  the  sovereignty  and  inde 
pendence  of  Mexico — that  we  take  as  a  matter  of  course 
to  which  we  are  bound  by  every  obligation  of  right  and 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  5 

honor — but  also  to  give  every  possible  evidence  that  we 
act  in  the  interest  of  Mexico  alone,  and  not  in  the  inter 
est  of  any  person  or  body  of  persons  who  may  have  per 
sonal  or  property  claims  in  Mexico  which  they  may  feel 
that  they  have  the  right  to  press.  We  are  seeking  to 
counsel  Mexico  for  her  own  good  and  in  the  interest  of 
her  own  peace,  and  not  for  any  other  purpose  whatever. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States  would  deem  itself 
discredited  if  it  had  any  selfish  or  ulterior  purpose  in 
transactions  where  the  peace,  happiness,  and  prosperity 
of  a  whole  people  are  involved.  It  is  acting  as  its 
friendship  for  Mexico,  not  as  any  selfish  interest, 
dictates. 

"The  present  situation  in  Mexico  is  incompatible 
with  the  fulfillment  of  international  obligations  on  the 
part  of  Mexico,  with  the  civilized  development  of  Mexico 
herself,  and  with  the  maintenance  of  tolerable  political 
and  economic  conditions  in  Central  America.  '*'  It  is 
upon  no  common  occasion,  therefore,  that  the  United 
States  offers  her  counsel  and  assistance.  All  America 
cries  out  for  a  settlement. 

"A  satisfactory  settlement  seems  to  us  to  be  condi 
tioned  on —  , 

"  (a)  An  immediate  cessation  of  fighting  throughout 
Mexico,  a  definite  armistice  solemnly  entered  into  and 
scrupulously  observed; 

"(&)  Security  given  for  an  early  and  free  election 
in  which  all  will  agree  to  take  part ; 

"  (c)  The  consent  of  Gen.  Huerta  to  bind  himself 
not  to  be  a  candidate  for  election  as  President  of  the 
Republic  at  this  election;  and 

"  (d)  The  agreement  of  all  parties  to  abide  by  the 
results  of  the  election  and  co-operate  in  the  most  loyal 
way  in  organizing  and  supporting  the  new  administra 
tion. 


6  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  will  be  glad 
to  play  any  part  in  this  settlement  or  in  its  carrying 
out  which  it  can  play  honorably  and  consistently  with 
international  right.  It  pledges  itself  to  recognize  and 
in  every  way  possible  and  proper  to  assist  the  adminis 
tration  chosen  and  set  up  in  Mexico  in  the  way  and  on 
the  conditions  suggested. 

"Taking  all  the  existing  conditions  into  considera 
tion,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  can  conceive 
of  no  reasons  sufficient  to  justify  those  who  are  now  at 
tempting  to  shape  the  policy  or  exercise  the  authority 
of  Mexico  in  declining  the  offices  of  friendship  thus 
offered.  Can  Mexico  give  the  civilized  world  a  satis 
factory  reason  for  rejecting  our  good  offices?  If  Mexico 
can  suggest  any  better  way  in  which  to  show  our  friend 
ship,  serve  the  people  of  Mexico,  and  meet  our  inter 
national  obligations,  we  are  more  than  willing  to  con 
sider  the  suggestion.-' 

Mr.  Lind  executed  his  delicate  and  difficult  mission 
with  singular  tact,  firmness,  and  good  judgment,  and 
made  clear  to  the  authorities  at  the  City  of  Mexico  not 
only  the  purpose  of  his  visit  but  also  the  spirit  in  which 
it  had  been  undertaken.  But  the  proposals  he  submitted 
were  rejected,  in  a  note  the  full  text  of  which  I  take  the 
liberty  of  laying  before  you. 

I  am  led  to  believe  that  they  were  rejected  partly 
because  the  authorities  at  Mexico  City  had  been  grossly 
misinformed  and  misled  upon  two  points.  They  did  not 
realize  the  spirit  of  the  American  people  in  this  mat 
ter,  their  earnest  friendliness  and  yet  sober  determina 
tion  that  some  just  solution  be  found  for  the  Mexican 
difficulties;  and  they  did  not  believe  that  the  present 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  7 

administration  spoke,  through  Mr.  Lind,  for  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  The  effect  of  this  unfortunate 
misunderstanding  on  their  part  is  to  leave  them  singu 
larly  isolated  and  without  friends  who  can  effectually 
aid  them.  So  long  as  the  misunderstanding  continues 
we  can  only  await  the  time  of  their  awakening  to  a 
realization  of  the  actual  facts.  We  cannot  thrust  our 
good  offices  upon  them.  The  situation  must  be  given 
a  little  more  time  to  work  itself  out  in  the  new  circum 
stances;  and  I  believe  that  only  a  little  while  will  be 
necessary.  For  the  circumstances  are  new.  The  rejec 
tion  of  our  friendship  makes  them  new  and  will  inevi 
tably  bring  its  own  alterations  in  the  whole  aspect  of 
affairs.  The  actual  situation  of  the  authorities  at 
Mexico  City  will  presently  be  revealed. 

Meanwhile,  what  is  it  our  duty  to  do  ?  Clearly,  every 
thing  thai  we  do  must  be  rooted  in  patience  and  done 
with  calm  and  disinterested  deliberation.  Impatience 
on  our  part  would  be  childish,  and  would  be  fraught 
with  every  risk  of  wrong  and  folly.  We  can  afford  to 
exercise  the  self-restraint  of  a  really  great  nation  which 
realizes  its  own  strength  and  scorns  to  misuse  it.  It 
was  our  duty  to  offer  our  active  assistance.  It  is  now 
our  duty  to  show  what  true  neutrality  will  do  to  enable 
the  people  of  Mexico  to  set  their  affairs  in  order  again 
and  wait  for  a  further  opportunity  to  offer  our  friendly 
counsels.  The  door  is  not  closed  against  the  resumption, 
either  upon  the  initiative  of  Mexico  or  upon  our  own, 
of  the  effort  to  bring  order  out  of  the  confusion  by 
friendly  co-operative  action,  should  fortunate  occasion 
offer. 


8  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

While  we  wait  the  contest  of  the  rival  forces  will 
undoubtedly  for  a  little  while  be  sharper  than  ever,  just 
because  it  will  be  plain  that  an  end  must  be  made  of  the 
existing  situation,  and  that  very  promptly ;  and  with  the 
increased  activity  of  the  contending  factions  will  come, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  increased  danger  to  the  noncombatants 
in  Mexico  as  well  as  to  those  actually  in  the  field  of 
battle.  The  position  of  outsiders  is  always  particularly 
trying  and  full  of  hazard  where  there  is  civil  strife 
and  a  whole  country  is  upset.  We  should  earnestly  urge 
all  Americans  to  leave  Mexico  at  once,  and  should  assist 
them  to  get  away  in  every  way  possible — not  because 
we  would  mean  to  slacken  in  the  least  our  efforts  to 
safeguard  their  lives  and  their  interests,  but  because  it 
is  imperative  that  they  should  take  no  unnecessary  risks 
when  it  is  physically  possible  for  them  to  leave  the  coun 
try.  We  should  let  everyone  who  assumes  to  exercise 
authority  in  any  part  of  Mexico  know  in  the  most 
unequivocal  way  that  we  shall  vigilantly  watch  the  for 
tunes  of  those  Americans  who  cannot  get  away,  and 
shall  hold  those  responsible  for  their  sufferings  and 
losses  to  a  definite  reckoning.  That  can  be  and  will  be 
made  plain  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  misunder 
standing. 

For  the  rest,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  exercise  the 
authority  conferred  upon  me  by  the  law  of  March  14, 
1912,  to  see  to  it  that  neither  side  to  the  struggle  now 
going  on  in  Mexico  receive  any  assistance  from  this 
side  the  border.  I  shall  follow  the  best  practice  of 
nations  in  the  matter  of  neutrality  by  forbidding  the 
exportation  of  arms  or  munitions  of  war  of  any  kind 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  9 

from  the  United  States  to  any  part  of  the  Republic  of 
Mexico — a  policy  suggested  by  several  interesting  prece 
dents  and  certainly  dictated  by  many  manifest  con 
siderations  of  practical  expediency.  We  cannot  in  the 
circumstances  be  the  partisans  of  either  party  to  the 
contest  that  now  distracts  Mexico,  or  constitute  our 
selves  the  virtual  umpire  between  them. 

1 1  am  happy  to  say  that  several  of  the  great  Govern 
ments  of  the  world  have  given  this  Government  their 
generous  moral  support  in  urging  upon  the  provisional 
authorities  at  the  City  of  Mexico  the  acceptance  of  our 
proffered  good  offices  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  were 
made.  We  have  not  acted  in  this  matter  under  the 
ordinary  principles  of  international  obligation.  All 
the  world  expects  us  in  such  circumstances  to  act  as 
Mexico's  nearest  friend  and  intimate  adviser.  This  is 
our  immemorial  relation  towards  her.  There  is  nowhere 
any  serious  question  that  we  have  the  moral  right  in  the 
case  or  that  we  are  acting  in  the  interest  of  a  fair  settle 
ment  and  of  good  government,  not  for  the  promotion  of 
some  selfish  interest  of  our  own.  If  further  motive 
were  necessary  than  our  own  good  will  towards  a  sister 
Republic  and  our  own  deep  concern  to  see  peace  and 
order  prevail  in  Central  America,  this  consent  of  man 
kind  to  what  we  are  attempting,  this  attitude  of  the 
great  nations  of  the  world  towards  what  we  may  attempt 
in  dealing  with  this  distressed  people  at  our  doors, 
should  make  us  feel  the  more  solemnly  bound  to  go  to 
the  utmost  length  of  patience  and  forbearance  in  this 
painful  and  anxious  business.  The  steady  pressure  of 
moral  force  will  before  many  days  break  the  barriers 


10  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

of  pride  and  prejudice  down,  and  we  shall  triumph  as 
Mexico's  friends  sooner  than  we  could  triumph  as  her 
enemies — and  how  much  more  handsomely,  with  how 
much  higher  and  finer  satisfactions  of  conscience  and  of 
honor ! 


ADDRESS   AT   THE   CELEBRATION   OF    THE 

REDEDICATION    OF    CONGRESS    HALL, 

PHILADELPHIA,  OCTOBER  25,  1913 

An  American  reader  does  not  need  to  be  informed  that  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  was  proclaimed  in  Philadelphia  July  4,  1776,  and  that  the 
building  in  which  the  Continental  Congress  then  met  is  called  Independence  Hall 
because  of  this  Declaration.  In  that  building  the  Congress  regularly  sat  in  the 
early  and  stormy  days  of  the  Revolution,  and  in  that  building  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  held  its  sessions  from  1790  to  1800,  when  the  seat  of  government 
was  transferred  from  Philadelphia  to  Washington  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
The  rooms  occupied  by  the  Continental  Congress  have  been  preserved  in  their 
original  condition  and  opened  to  the  public.  Not  so  the  building  connected  with 
Independence  Hall,  in  which  the  Congress  of  Washington's  and  Adams'  adminis 
trations  assembled. 

The  Congress  that  met  in  Philadelphia  during  the  first  two  administra 
tions  of  the  Republic  has  claims  upon  our  remembrance,  and  the  good  people  of 
Philadelphia  were  happily  inspired  when  they  decided  to  restore  the  original 
form  and  condition  of  these  quarters.  This  was  speedily,  successfully,  and 
admirably  done,  and  the  building  known  as  Congress  Hall  was  dedicated  on 
October  25,  1913,  in  the  presence  of  a  distinguished  gathering,  on  which  occa 
sion  President  Wilson,  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  delivered  the  following 
address. 

YOUR  HONOR,  MR.  CHAIRMAN,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 
No  American  could  stand  in  this  place  to-day  and 
think  of  the  circumstances  which  we  are  come  together 
to  celebrate  without  being  most  profoundly  stirred. 
There  has  come  over  me  since  I  sat  down  here  a  sense 
of  deep  solemnity,  because  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  I 
saw  ghosts  crowding — a  great  assemblage  of  spirits, 
no  longer  visible,  but  whose  influence  we  still  feel  as  we 
feel  the  molding  power  of  history  itself.  The  men  who 
sat  in  this  hall,  to  whom  we  now  look  back  with  a  touch 
of  deep  sentiment,  were  men  of  flesh  and  blood,  face 
to  face  with  extremely  difficult  problems.  The  popu 
lation  of  the  United  States  then  was  hardly  three  times 

11 


12  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  present  population  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and 
yet  that  was  a  Nation  as  this  is  a  Nation,  and  the  men 
who  spoke  for  it  were  setting  their  hands  to  a  work 
which  was  to  last,  not  only  that  their  people  might  be 
happy,  but  that  an  example  might  be  lifted  up  for  the 
instruction  of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

I  like  to  read  the  quaint  old  accounts  such  as  Mr. 
Day  has  read  to  us  this  afternoon.  Strangers  came 
then  to  America  to  see  what  the  young  people  that  had 
sprung  up  here  were  like,  and  they  found  men  in  coun 
sel  who  knew  how  to  construct  governments.  They 
found  men  deliberating  here  who  had  none  of  the 
appearance  of  novices,  none  of  the  hesitation  of  men 
who  did  not  know  whether  the  work  they  were  doing 
was  going  to  last  or  not ;  men  who  addressed  themselves 
to  a  problem  of  construction  as  familiarly  as  we  attempt 
to  carry  out  the  traditions  of  a  Government  established 
these  137  years. 

I  feel  to-day  the  compulsion  of  these  men,  the  com 
pulsion  of  examples  which  were  set  up  in  this  place. 
And  of  what  do  their  examples  remind  us?  They  re 
mind  us  not  merely  of  public  service  but  of  public 
service  shot  through  with  principle  and  honor.  They 
were  not  histrionic  men.  They  did  not  say — 

Look  upon  us  as  upon  those  who  shall  hereafter  be 
illustrious. 

They  said: 

"Look  upon  us  who  are  doing  the  first  free  work  of 
constitutional  liberty  in  the  world,  and  who  must  do  it 
in  soberness  and  truth,  or  it  will  not  last." 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  13 

Politics,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  made  up  in  just 
about  equal  parts  of  comprehension  and  sympathy.  No 
man  ought  to  go  into  politics  who  does  not  comprehend 
the  task  that  he  is  going  to  attack.  He  may  compre 
hend  it  so  completely  that  it  daunts  him,  that  he  doubts 
whether  his  own  spirit  is  stout  enough  and  his  own  mind 
able  enough  to  attempt  its  great  undertakings,  but  un 
less  he  comprehend  it  he  ought  not  to  enter  it.  After 
he  has  comprehended  it,  there  should  come  into  his 
mind  those  profound  impulses  of  sympathy  which  con 
nect  him  with  the  rest  of  mankind,  for  politics  is  a 
business  of  interpretation,  and  no  men  are  fit  for  it  who 
do  not  see  and  seek  more  than  their  own  advantage  and 
interest. 

We  have  stumbled  upon  many  unhappy  circum 
stances  in  the  hundred  years  that  have  gone  by  since 
the  event  that  we  are  celebrating.  Almost  all  of  them 
have  come  from  self-centered  men,  men  who  saw  in 
their  own  interest  the  interest  of  the  country,  and  who 
did  not  have  vision  enough  to  read  it  in  wider  terms,  in 
the  universal  terms  of  equity  and  justice  and  the  rights 
of  mankind.  I  hear  a  great  many  people  at  Fourth  of 
July  celebrations  laud  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
who  in  between  Julys  shiver  at  the  plain  language  of 
our  bills  of  rights.  The  Declaration  of  Independence 
was,  indeed,  the  first  audible  breath  of  liberty,  but  the 
substance  of  liberty  is  written  in  such  documents  as  the 
declaration  of  rights  attached,  for  example,  to  the  first 
constitution  of  Virginia  which  was  a  model  for  the 
similar  documents  read  elsewhere  into  our  great  funda 
mental  charters.  That  document  speaks  in  very  plain 


14  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

terms.  The  men  of  that  generation  did  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  every  people  has  a  right  to  choose  its  own 
forms  of  government — not  once,  but  as  often  as  it 
pleases — and  to  accommodate  those  forms  of  govern 
ment  to  its  existing  interests  and  circumstances.  Not 
only  to  establish  but  to  alter  is  the  fundamental  prin 
ciple  of  self-government. 

We  are  just  as  much  under  compulsion  to  study  the 
particular  circumstances  of  our  own  day  as  the  gentle 
men  were  who  sat  in  this  hall  and  set  us  precedents, 
not  of  what  to  do  but  of  how  to  do  it.  Liberty  inheres 
in  the  circumstances  of  the  day.  Human  happiness  con 
sists  in  the  life  which  human  beings  are  leading  at  the 
time  that  they  live.  I  can  feed  my  memory  as  hap 
pily  upon  the  circumstances  of  the  revolutionary  and 
constitutional  period  as  you  can,  but  I  cannot  feed  all 
my  purposes  with  them  in  Washington  now.  Every 
day  problems  arise  which  wear  some  new  phase  and 
aspect,  and  I  must  fall  back,  if  I  would  serve  my  con 
science,  upon  those  things  which  are  fundamental  rather 
than  upon  those  things  which  are  superficial,  and  ask 
myself  this  question,  How  are  you  going  to  assist  in 
some  small  part  to  give  the  American  people  and,  by 
example,  the  peoples  of  the  world  more  liberty,  more 
happiness,  more  substantial  prosperity;  and  how  are 
you  going  to  make  that  prosperity  a  common  heritage 
instead  of  a  selfish  possession?  I  came  here  to-day 
partly  in  order  to  feed  my  own  spirit.  I  did  not  come 
in  compliment.  When  I  was  asked  to  come  I  knew 
immediately  upon  the  utterance  of  the  invitation  that 
I  had  to  come,  that  to  be  absent  would  be  as  if  I  refused 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  15 

to  drink  once  more  at  the  original  fountains  of  inspira 
tion  for  our  own  Government. 

The  men  of  the  day  which  we  now  celebrate  had  a 
very  great  advantage  over  us,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  in 
this  one  particular:  Life  was  simple  in  America  then. 
All  men  shared  the  same  circumstances  in  almost  equal 
degree.  We  think  of  Washington,  for  example,  as  an 
aristocrat,  as  a  man  separated  by  training,  separated  by 
family  and  neighborhood  tradition,  from  the  ordinary 
people  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  country.  Have  you 
forgotten  the  personal  history  of  George  Washington? 
Do  you  not  know  that  he  struggled  as  poor  boys  now 
struggle  for  a  meager  and  imperfect  education;  that  he 
worked  at  his  surveyor's  tasks  in  the  lonely  forests; 
that  he  knew  all  the  roughness,  all  the  hardships,  all 
the  adventure,  all  the  variety  of  the  common  life  of  that 
day;  and  that  if  he  stood  a  little  stiffly  in  this  place,  if 
he  looked  a  little  aloof,  it  was  because  life  had  dealt 
hardly  with  him?  All  his  sinews  had  been  stiffened  by 
the  rough  work  of  making  America.  He  was  a  man 
of  the  people,  whose  touch  had  been  with  them  since 
the  day  he  saw  the  light  first  in  the  old  Dominion  of 
Virginia.  And  the  men  who  came  after  him,  men,  some 
of  whom  had  drunk  deep  at  the  sources  of  philosophy 
and  of  study,  were,  nevertheless,  also  men  who  on  this 
side  of  the  water  knew  no  complicated  life  but  the  simple 
life  of  primitive  neighborhoods.  Our  task  is  very  much 
more  difficult.  That  sympathy  which  alone  interprets 
public  duty  is  more  difficult  for  a  public  man  to  acquire 
now  than  it  was  then,  because  we  live  in  the  midst  of 
circumstances  and  conditions  infinitely  complex. 


16  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

No  man  can  boast  that  he  understands  America.  No 
man  can  boast  that  he  has  lived  the  life  of  America, 
as  almost  every  man  who  sat  in  this  hall  in  those  days 
could  boast.  No  man  can  pretend  that  except  by  com 
mon  counsel  he  can  gather  into  }iis  consciousness  what 
the  varied  life  of  this  people  is.  The  duty  that  we  have 
to  keep  open  eyes  and  open  hearts  and  accessible  under 
standings  is  a  very  much  more  difficult  duty  to  perform 
than  it  was  in  their  day.  Yet  how  much  more  impor 
tant  that  it  should  be  performed,  for  fear  we  make 
infinite  and  irreparable  blunders.  The  city  of  Wash 
ington  is  in  some  respects  self-contained,  and  it  is  easy 
there  to  forget  what  the  rest  of  the  United  States  is 
thinking  about.  I  count  it  a  fortunate  circumstance 
that  almost  all  the  windows  of  the  White  House  and 
its  offices  open  upon  unoccupied  spaces  that  stretch  to 
the  banks  of  the  Potomac  and  then  out  into  Virginia 
and  on  to  the  heavens  themselves,  and  that  as  I  sit  there 
I  can  constantly  forget  Washington  and  remember  the 
United  States.  Not  that  I  would  intimate  that  all  of 
the  United  States  lies  south  of  Washington,  but  there 
is  a  serious  thing  back  of  my  thought.  If  you  think 
too  much  about  being  re-elected,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
be  worth  re-electing.  You  are  so  apt  to  forget  that  the 
comparatively  small  number  of  persons,  numerous  as 
they  seem  to  be  when  they  swarm,  who  come  to  Wash 
ington  to  ask  for  things,  do  not  constitute  an  important 
proportion  of  the  population  of  the  country,  that  it  is 
constantly  necessary  to  come  away  from  Washington 
and  renew  one's  contact  with  the  people  who  do  not 
swarm  there,  who  do  not  ask  for  anything,  but  who  do 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  17 

trust  you  without  their  personal  counsel  to  do  your 
duty.  Unless  a  man  gets  these  contacts  he  grows  weaker 
and  weaker.  He  needs  them  as  Hercules  needed  the 
touch  of  mother  earth.  If  you  lift  him  up  too  high  or 
he  lifts  himself  too  high,  he  loses  the  contact  and  there 
fore  loses  the  inspiration. 

I  love  to  think  of  those  plain  men,  however  far  from 
plain  their  dress  sometimes  was,  who  assembled  in  this 
hall.  One  is  startled  to  think  of  the  variety  of  cos 
tume  and  color  which  would  now  occur  if  we  were  let 
loose  upon  the  fashions  of  that  age.  Men's  lack  of 
taste  is  largely  concealed  now  by  the  limitations  of 
fashion.  Yet  these  men,  who  sometimes  dressed  like 
the  peacock,  were,  nevertheless,  of  the  ordinary  flight 
of  their  time.  They  were  birds  of  a  feather;  they  were 
birds  come  from  a  very  simple  breeding;  they  were 
much  in  the  open  heaven.  They  were  beginning,  when 
there  was  so  little  to  distract  their  attention,  to  show 
that  they  could  live  upon  fundamental  principles  of 
government.  We  talk  those  principles,  but  we  have  not 
time  to  absorb  them.  We  have  not  time  to  let  them  into 
our  blood,  and  thence  have  them  translated  into  the 
plain  mandates  of  action. 

The  very  smallness  of  this  room,  the  very  simplicity 
of  it  all,  all  the  suggestions  which  come  from  its  restora 
tion,  are  reassuring  things — things  which  it  becomes  a 
man  to  realize.  Therefore  my  theme  here  to-day,  my 
only  thought,  is  a  very  simple  one.  Do  not  let  us  go 
back  to  the  annals  of  those  sessions  of  Congress  to  find 
out  what  to  do,  because  we  live  in  another  age  and  the 
circumstances  are  absolutely  different;  but  let  us  be 


18  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

men  of  that  kind;  let  us  feel  at  every  turn  the  com 
pulsions  of  principle  and  of  honor  which  they  felt;  let 
us  free  our  vision  from  temporary  circumstances  and 
look  abroad  at  the  horizon  and  take  into  our  lungs  the 
great  air  of  freedom  which  has  blown  through  this 
country  and  stolen  across  the  seas  and  blessed  people 
everywhere;  and,  looking  east  and  west  and  north  and 
south,  let  us  remind  ourselves  that  we  are  the  custodians, 
in  some  degree,  of  the  principles  which  have  made  men 
free  and  governments  just. 


ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  SOUTH 
ERN  COMMERCIAL  CONGRESS  HELD  AT 
MOBILE,    ALA.,    OCTOBER    27,    1913 

The  Southern  Commercial  Congress  was  organized  December  8,  1908,  in 
the  City  of  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  primarily,  as  its  name  indicates, 
for  the  interests  of  the  South — which  are,  however,  inextricably  bound  up  with 
the  interests  of  all  the  States  of  the  Union.  Its  annual  meetings  are  notable 
occasions,  and  not  the  least  notable  was  the  meeting  at  Mobile,  Alabama,  in 
October,  1913,  where  President  Wilson  delivered  an  address  largely  dealing  with 
the  relations  which  should  exist  between  the  United  States  and  the  other  Repub 
lics  of  the  New  World,  an  address  which  the  peoples  of  those  Republics  considered 
memorable. 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY,  MR.  CHAIRMAN: 

It  is  with  unaffected  pleasure  that  I  find  myself 
here  to-day.  I  once  before  had  the  pleasure,  in  another 
southern  city,  of  addressing  the  Southern  Commercial 
Congress.  I  then  spoke  of  what  the  future  seemed  to 
hold  in  store  for  this  region,  which  so  many  of  us  love 
and  toward  the  future  of  which  we  all  look  forward 
with  so  much  confidence  and  hope.  But  another  theme 
directed  me  here  this  time.  I  do  not  need  to  speak  of 
the  South.  She  has,  perhaps,  acquired  the  gift  of  speak 
ing  for  herself.  I  come  because  I  want  to  speak  of  our 
present  and  prospective  relations  with  our  neighbors  to 
the  south.  I  deemed  it  a  public  duty,  as  well  as  a 
personal  pleasure,  to  be  here  to  express  for  myself  and 
for  the  Government  I  represent  the  welcome  we  all  feel 
to  those  who  represent  the  Latin  American  States. 

The  future,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  going  to  be  very 
different  for  this  hemisphere  from  the  past.  These 

19 


20  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

States  lying  to  the  south  of  us,  which  have  always  been 
our  neighbors,  will  now  be  drawn  closer  to  us  by  in 
numerable  ties,  and,  I  hope,  chief  of  all,  by  the  tie  of  a 
common  understanding  of  each  other.  Interest  does 
not  tie  nations  together;  it  sometimes  separates  them. 
But  sympathy  and  understanding  does  unite  them,  and 
I  believe  that  by  the  new  route  that  is  just  about  to  be 
opened,  while  we  physically  cut  two  continents  asunder, 
we  spiritually  unite  them.  It  is  a  spiritual  union  which 
we  seek. 

I  wonder  if  you  realize,  I  wonder  if  your  imagina 
tions  have  been  filled  with  the  significance  of  the  tides 
of  commerce.  Tour  governor  alluded  in  very  fit  and 
striking  terms  to  the  voyage  of  Columbus,  but  Columbus 
took  his  voyage  under  compulsion  of  circumstances. 
Constantinople  had  been  captured  by  the  Turks  and  all 
the  routes  of  trade  with  the  East  had  been  suddenly 
closed.  If  there  was  not  a  way  across  the  Atlantic 
to  open  those  routes  again,  they  were  closed  forever, 
and  Columbus  set  out  not  to  discover  America,  for  he 
did  not  know  that  it  existed,  but  to  discover  the  eastern 
shores  of  Asia.  He  set  sail  for  Cathay  and  stumbled 
upon  America.  With  that  change  in  the  outlook  of  the 
world,  what  happened?  England,  that  had  been  at  the 
back  of  Europe  with  an  unknown  sea  behind  her,  found 
that  all  things  had  turned  as  if  upon  a  pivot  and  she 
was  at  the  front  of  Europe ;  and  since  then  all  the  tides 
of  energy  and  enterprise  that  have  issued  out  of  Europe 
have  seemed  to  be  turned  westward  across  the  Atlantic. 
But  you  will  notice  that  they  have  turned  westward 
chiefly  north  of  the  Equator  and  that  it  is  the  northern 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  21 

half  of  the  globe  that  has  seemed  to  be  filled  with  the 
media  of  intercourse  and  of  sympathy  and  of  common 
understanding. 

Do  you  not  see  now  what  is  about  to  happen  ?  These 
great  tides  which  have  been  running  along  parallels  of 
latitude  will  now  swing  southward  athwart  parallels 
of  latitude,  and  that  opening  gate  at  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  will  open  the  world  to  a  commerce  that  she  has 
not  known  before,  a  commerce  of  intelligence,  of  thought 
and  sympathy  between  North  and  South.  The  Latin 
American  States,  which,  to  their  disadvantage,  have  been 
off  the  main  lines,  will  now  be  on  the  main  lines.  I 
feel  that  these  gentlemen  honoring  us  with  their  pres 
ence  to-day  will  presently  find  that  some  part,  at  any 
rate,  of  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  world  has  shifted. 
Do  you  realize  that  New  York,  for  example,  will  be 
nearer  the  western  coast  of  South  America  than  she  is 
now  to  the  eastern  coast  of  South  America?  Do  you 
realize  that  a  line  drawn  northward  parallel  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  western  coast  of  South  America  will 
run  only  about  150  miles  west  of  New  York  ?  The  great 
bulk  of  South  America,  if  you  will  look  at  your  globes 
(not  at  your  Mercator's  projection),  lies  eastward  of 
the  continent  of  North  America.  You  will  realize  that 
when  you  realize  that  the  canal  will  run  southeast,  not 
southwest,  and  that  when  you  get  into  the  Pacific  you 
will  be  farther  east  than  you  were  when  you  left  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  These  things  are  significant,  there 
fore,  of  this,  that  we  are  closing  one  chapter  in  the 
history  of  the  world  and  are  opening  another,  of  great, 
unimaginable  significance. 


22  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

v  There  is  one  peculiarity  about  the  history  of  the 
Latin  American  States  which  I  am  sure  they  are  keenly 
aware  of.  You  hear  of  " concessions"  to  foreign  capi 
talists  in  Latin  America.  You  do  not  hear  of  conces 
sions  to  foreign  capitalists  in  the  United  States.  They 
are  not  granted  concessions.  They  are  invited  to  make 
investments.  The  work  is  ours,  though  they  are  wel 
come  to  invest  in  it.  We  do  not  ask  them  to  supply  the 
capital  and  do  the  work.  It  is  an  invitation,  not  a 
privilege;  and  States  that  are  obliged,  because  their 
territory  does  not  lie  within  the  main  field  of  modern 
enterprise  and  action,  to  grant  concessions  are  in  this 
condition,  that  foreign  interests  are  apt  to  dominate 
their  domestic  affairs,  a  condition  of  affairs  always  dan 
gerous  and  apt  to  become  intolerable.  What  these 
States  are  going  to  see,  therefore,  is  an  emancipation 
from  the  subordination,  which  has  been  inevitable,  to 
foreign  enterprise  and  an  assertion  of  the  splendid 
character  which,  in  spite  of  these  difficulties,  they  have 
again  and  again  been  able  to  demonstrate.  The  dig 
nity,  the  courage,  the  self-possession,  the  self-respect 
of  the  Latin  American  States,  their  achievements  in 
the  face  of  all  these  adverse  circumstances,  deserve 
nothing  but  the  admiration  and  applause  of  the  world. 
They  have  had  harder  bargains  driven  with  them  in  the 
matter  of  loans  than  any  other  peoples  in  the  world. 
Interest  has  been  exacted  of  them  that  was  not  exacted 
of  anybody  else,  because  the  risk  was  said  to  be  greater ; 
and  then  securities  were  taken  that  destroyed  the  risk — 
an  admirable  arrangement  for  those  who  were  forcing 
the  terms!  I  rejoice  in  nothing  so  much  as  in  the  pros- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  23 

pect  that  they  will  now  be  emancipated  from  these 
conditions,  and  we  ought  to  be  the  first  to  take  part  in 
assisting  in  that  emancipation.  I  think  some  of  these 
gentlemen  have  already  had  occasion  to  bear  witness 
that  the  Department  of  State  in  recent  months  has  tried 
to  serve  them  in  that  wise.  In  the  future  they  will 
draw  closer  and  closer  to  us  because  of  circumstances 
of  which  I  wish  to  speak  with  moderation  and,  I  hope, 
without  indiscretion. 

We  must  prove  ourselves  their  friends  and  cham 
pions  upon  terms  of  equality  and  honor.  You  cannot 
be  friends  upon  any  other  terms  than  upon  the  terms  of 
equality.  You  cannot  be  friends  at  all  except  upon  the 
terms  of  honor.  We  must  show  ourselves  friends  by 
comprehending  their  interest  whether  it  squares  with 
our  own  interest  or  not.  It  is  a  very  perilous  thing 
to  determine  the  foreign  policy  of  a  nation  in  the  terms 
of  material  interest.  It  not  only  is  unfair  to  those  with 
whom  you  are  dealing,  but  it  is  degrading  as  regards 
your  own  actions. 

Comprehension  must  be  the  soil  in  which  shall  grow  N 
all  the  fruits  of  friendship,  and  there  is  a  reason  and  a 
compulsion  lying  behind  all  this  which  is  dearer  than 
anything  else  to  the  thoughtful  men  of  America.  I 
mean  the  development  of  constitutional  liberty  in  the 
world.  Human  rights,  national  integrity,  and  oppor 
tunity  as  against  material  interests — that,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  is  the  issue  which  we  now  have  to  face.  I 
want  to  take  this  occasion  to  say  that  the  United  States 
will  never  again  seek  one  additional  foot  of  territory  by 
conquest.  She  will  devote  herself  to  showing  that  she 


24  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

knows  how  to  make  honorable  and  fruitful  use  of  the 
territory  she  has,  and  she  must  regard  it  as  one  of  the 
duties  of  friendship  to  see  that  from  no  quarter  are 
material  interests  made  superior  to  human  liberty  and 
national  opportunity.  I  say  this,  not  with  a  single 
thought  that  anyone  will  gainsay  it,  but  merely  to  fix 
T  in  our  consciousness  what  our  real  relationship  with  the 
rest  of  America  is.  It  is  the  relationship  of  a  family 
of  mankind  devoted  to  the  development  of  true  con 
stitutional  liberty.  We  know  that  that  is  the  soil  out 
of  which  the  best  enterprise  springs.  We  know  that 
this  is  a  cause  which  we  are  making  in  common  with 
our  neighbors,  because  we  have  had  to  make  it  for 
ourselves. 

Reference  has  been  made  here  to-day  to  some  of 
the  national  problems  which  confront  us  as  a  nation. 
What  is  at  the  heart  of  all  our  national  problems'?  It 
is  that  we  have  seen  the  hand  of  material  interest  some 
times  about  to  close  upon  our  dearest  rights  and  posses 
sions.  We  have  seen  material  interests  threaten  con 
stitutional  freedom  in  the  United  States.  Therefore  we 
will  now  know  how  to  sympathize  with  those  in  the  rest 
of  America  who  have  to  contend  with  such  powers,  not 
only  within  their  borders  but  from  outside  their  borders 
also. 

I  know  what  the  response  of  the  thought  and  heart 
of  America  will  be  to  the  program  I  have  outlined, 
because  America  was  created  to  realize  a  program  like 
that.  This  is  not  America  because  it  is  rich.  This  is 
not  America  because  it  has  set  up  for  a  great  popula 
tion  great  opportunities  of  material  prosperity.  Amer- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  25 

ica  is  a  name  which  sounds  in  the  ears  of  men  every 
where  as  a  synonym  with  individual  opportunity 
because  a  synonym  of  individual  liberty.  I  would 
rather  belong  to  a  poor  nation  that  was  free  than  to  a 
rich  nation  that  had  ceased  to  be  in  love  with  liberty. 
But  we  shall  not  be  poor  if  we  love  liberty,  because 
the  nation  that  loves  liberty  truly  sets  every  man 
free  to  do  his  best  and  be  his  best,  and  that  means  the 
release  of  all  the  splendid  energies  of  a  great  people 
who  think  for  themselves.  A  nation  of  employees 
cannot  be  free  any  more  than  a  nation  of  employers 
can  be. 

In  emphasizing  the  points  which  must  unite  us  in 
sympathy  and  in  spiritual  interest  with  the  Latin  Amer 
ican  peoples  we  are  only  emphasizing  the  points  of  our 
own  life,  and  we  should  prove  ourselves  untrue  to  our 
own  traditions  if  we  proved  ourselves  untrue  friends 
to  them.  Do  not  think,  therefore,  gentlemen,  that  the 
questions  of  the  day  are  mere  questions  of  policy  and 
diplomacy.  They  are  shot  through  with  the  principles 
of  life.  We^  dare  not  turn  from  the  principle  that 
morality  and  not  expediency  is  the  thing  that  must 
guide  us  and  that  we  will  never  condone  iniquity  be 
cause  it  is  most  convenient  to  do  so.  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  a  day  of  infinite  hope,  of  confidence  in  a 
future  greater  than  the  past  has  been,  for  I  am  fain  to 
believe  that  in  spite  of  all  the  things  that  we  wish  to 
correct  the  nineteenth  century  that  now  lies  behind  us 
has  brought  us  a  long  stage  toward  the  time  when, 
slowly  ascending  the  tedious  climb  that  leads  to  the 
final  uplands,  we  shall  get  our  ultimate  view  of  the 


26  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

duties  of  mankind.  "We  have  breasted  a  considerable 
part  of  that  climb  and  shall  presently — it  may  be  in  a 
generation  or  two — come  out  upon  those  great  heights 
where  there  shines  unobstructed  the  light  of  the  justice 
of  God. 


FIRST  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  A 

JOINT  SESSION  OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES 

OF  CONGRESS,  DECEMBER  2,   1913  x 

ME.  SPEAKEE,  ME.  PEESIDENT,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE 
CONGEESS  : 

In  pursuance  of  my  constitutional  duty  to  "give  to 
the  Congress  information  of  the  state  of  the  Union," 
I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  on  several  matters 
which  ought,  as  it  seems  to  me,  particularly  to  engage 
the  attention  of  your  honorable  bodies,  as  of  all  who 
study  the  welfare  and  progress  of  the  Nation. 

I  shall  ask  your  indulgence  if  I  venture  to  depart 
in  some  degree  from  the  usual  custom  of  setting  before 
you  in  formal  review  the  many  matters  which  have 
engaged  the  attention  and  called  for  the  action  of  the 
several  departments  of  the  Government  or  which  look 
to  them  for  early  treatment  in  the  future,  because  the 
list  is  long,  very  long,  and  would  suffer  in  the  abbrevi 
ation  to  which  I  should  have  to  subject  it.  I  shall  sub 
mit  to  you  the  reports  of  the  heads  of  the  several 
departments,  in  which  these  subjects  are  set  forth  in 
careful  detail,  and  beg  that  they  may  receive  the 
thoughtful  attention  of  your  committees  and  of  all 
Members  of  the  Congress  who  may  have  the  leisure  to 
study  them.  Their  obvious  importance,  as  constituting 
the  very  substance  of  the  business  of  the  Government, 
makes  comment  and  emphasis  on  my  part  unnecessary. 

1  Only  that  part  of  the  address  is  given  which  concerns  international  rela 
tions. 

27 


28  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  country,  I  am  thankful  to  say,  is  at  peace  with 
all  the  world,  and  many  happy  manifestations  multiply 
about  us  of  a  growing  cordiality  and  sense  of  com 
munity  of  interest  among  the  nations,  foreshadowing 
an  age  of  settled  peace  and  good  will.  More  and  more 
readily  each  decade  do  the  nations  manifest  their  will 
ingness  to  bind  themselves  by  solemn  treaty  to  the 
processes  of  peace,  the  processes  of  frankness  and  fair 
concession.  So  far  the  United  States  has  stood  at  the 
front  of  such  negotiations.  She  will,  I  earnestly  hope 
and  confidently  believe,  give  fresh  proof  of  her  sincere 
adherence  to  the  cause  of  international  friendship  by 
ratifying  the  several  treaties  of  arbitration  awaiting 
renewal  by  the  Senate.  In  addition  to  these,  it  has 
been  the  privilege  of  the  Department  of  State  to  gain 
the  assent,  in  principle,  of  no  less  than  31  nations,  rep 
resenting  four-fifths  of  the  population  of  the  world,  to 
the  negotiation  of  treaties  by  which  it  shall  be  agreed 
that  whenever  differences  of  interest  or  of  policy  arise 
which  cannot  be  resolved  by  the  ordinary  processes  of 
diplomacy  they  shall  be  publicly  analyzed,  discussed, 
and  reported  upon  by  a  tribunal  chosen  by  the  parties 
before  either  nation  determines  its  course  of  action. 

There  is  only  one  possible  standard  by  which  to, 
determine  controversies  between  the  United  States  and 
other  nations,  and  that  is  compounded  of  these  two 
elements:  Our  own  honor  and  our  obligations  to  the 
peace  of  the  world.  A  test  so  compounded  ought  easily 
to  be  made  to  govern  both  the  establishment  of  new 
treaty  obligations  and  the  interpretation  of  those 
already  assumed. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  29 

There  is  but  one  cloud  upon  our  horizon.  That  has 
shown  itself  to  the  south  of  us,  and  hangs  over  Mexico. 
There  can  be  no  certain  prospect  of  peace  in  America 
until  Gen.  Huerta  has  surrendered  his  usurped  author 
ity  in  Mexico;  until  it  is  understood  on  all  hands, 
indeed,  that  such  pretended  governments  will  not  be 
countenanced  or  dealt  with  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  We  are  the  friends  of  constitutional 
government  in  America;  we  are  more  than  its  friends, 
we  are  its  champions;  because  in  no  other  way  can  our 
neighbors,  to  whom  we  would  wish  in  every  way  to 
make  proof  of  our  friendship,  work  out  their  own 
development  in  peace  and  liberty.  Mexico  has  no  Gov 
ernment.  \The  attempt  to  maintain  one  at  the  City  of 
Mexico  has  broken  down,  and  a  mere  military  des 
potism  has  been  set  up  which  has  hardly  more  than 
the  semblance  of  national  authority.  It  originated  in 
the  usurpation  of  Victoriano  Huerta,  who,  after  a  brief 
attempt  to  play  the  part  of  constitutional  President, 
has  at  last  cast  aside  even  the  pretense  of  legal  right 
and  declared  himself  dictator.  As  a  consequence,  a 
condition  of  affairs  now  exists  in  Mexico  which  has 
made  it  doubtful  whether  even  the  most  elementary 
and  fundamental  rights  either  of  her  own  people  or 
of  the  citizens  of  other  countries  resident  within  her 
territory  can  long  be  successfully  safeguarded,  and 
which  threatens,  if  long  continued,  to  imperil  the  inter 
ests  of  peace,  order,  and  tolerable  life  in  the  lands 
immediately  to  the  south  of  us.  Even  if  the  usurper 
had  succeeded  in  his  purposes,  in  despite  of  the  con 
stitution  of  the  Eepublic  and  the  rights  of  its  people, 


30  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

he  would  have  set  up  nothing  but  a  precarious  and 
hateful  power,  which  could  have  lasted  but  a  little 
while,  and  whose  eventual  downfall  would  have  left  the 
country  in  a  more  deplorable  condition  than  ever.  But 
he  has  not  succeeded.  He  has  forfeited  the  respect  and 
the  moral  support  even  of  those  who  were  at  one  time 
willing  to  see  him  succeed.  Little  by  little  he  has  been 
completely  isolated.  By  a  little  every  day  his  power 
and  prestige  are  crumbling  and  the  collapse  is  not  far 
away.  We  shall  not,  I  believe,  be  obliged  to  alter  our 
policy  of  watchful  waiting.  And  then,  when  the  end 
comes,  we  shall  hope  to  see  constitutional  order  restored 
in  distressed  Mexico  by  the  concert  and  energy  of  such 
of  her  leaders  as  prefer  the  liberty  of  their  people  to 
their  own  ambitions. 


ADDRESS     URGING    REPEAL    OF    PANAMA 

TOLLS  DELIVERED  AT  A  JOINT  SESSION 

OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES  OF  CONGRESS, 

MARCH  5,  1914 

On  August  24,  1912,  a  bill  was  approved  by  President  Taft,  entitled,  "An 
Act  to  provide  for  the  opening,  maintenance,  protection,  and  operation  of  the 
Panama  Canal  and  the  sanitation  and  government  of  the  Canal  Zone."  This 
bill  contained  a  provision  that  American  ships  engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade 
should  be  exempt  from  the  payment  of  tolls.  Great  Britain  claimed  that  the  ex 
emption  of  American  coast-wise  shipping  from  the  payment  of  tolls  was  a  viola 
tion  of  the  terms  of  the  Hay-Pauncefote  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  signed  November  18,  1901,  and  proclaimed  February  18,  1902. 
Largely  through  the  energy  of  Senator  Root,  a  sentiment  was  created  in  favor 
of  the  repeal  of  this  section  of  the  Act,  which  gained  irresistible  momentum  by 
President  Wilson's  advocacy  of  this  measure.  A  bill  to  this  effect  was  passed 
by  both  Houses  and  approved  by  him  June  15,  1914.  In  the  interval,  on  March 
5,  1914,  he  appeared  in  person  before  the  Congress  and  delivered  the  following 
address. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE   CONGRESS: 

I  have  come  to  you  upon  an  errand  which  can  be 
very  briefly  performed,  but  I  beg  that  you  will  not 
measure  its  importance  by  the  number  of  sentences  in 
which  I  state  it.  No  communication  I  have  addressed 
to  the  Congress  carried  with  it  graver  or  more  far- 
reaching  implications  as  to  the  interest  of  the  country, 
and  I  come  now  to  speak  upon  a  matter  with  regard 
to  which  I  am  charged  in  a  peculiar  degree,  by  the 
Constitution  itself,  with  personal  responsibility. 

I  have  come  to  ask  you  for  the  repeal  of  that  pro 
vision  of  the  Panama  Canal  Act  of  August  24,  1912, 
which  exempts  vessels  engaged  in  the  coastwise  trade 
of  the  United  States  from  payment  of  tolls,  and  to 
urge  upon  you  the  justice,  the  wisdom,  and  the  large 
policy  of  such  a  repeal  with  the  utmost  earnestness  of 
which  I  am  capable. 

31 


32  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

In  my  own  judgment,  very  fully  considered  and 
maturely  formed,  that  exemption  constitutes  a  mistaken 
economic  policy  from  every  point  of  view,  and  is,  more 
over,  in  plain  contravention  of  the  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  concerning  the  canal  concluded  on  November 
18,  1901.  But  I  have  not  come  to  urge  upon  you  my 
personal  views.  I  have  come  to  state  to  you  a  fact 
and  a  situation.  Whatever  may  be  our  own  differ 
ences  of  opinion  concerning  this  much  debated  measure, 
its  meaning  is  not  debated  outside  the  United  States. 
Everywhere  else  the  language  of  the  treaty  is  given 
but  one  interpretation,  and  that  interpretation  pre 
cludes  the  exemption  I  am  asking  you  to  repeal.  We 
consented  to  the  treaty;  its  language  we  accepted,  if 
we  did  not  originate  it;  and  we  are  too  big,  too  power 
ful,  too  self-respecting  a  nation  to  interpret  with  a 
too  strained  or  refined  reading  the  words  of  our  own 
promises  just  because  we  have  power  enough  to  give 
us  leave  to  read  them  as  we  please.  The  large  thing 
to  do  is  the  only  thing  we  can  afford  to  do,  a  volun 
tary  withdrawal  from  a  position  everywhere  questioned 
and  misunderstood.  We  ought  to  reverse  our  action 
without  raising  the  question  whether  we  were  right  or 
wrong,  and  so  once  more  deserve  our  reputation  for 
generosity  and  for  the  redemption  of  every  obligation 
without  quibble  or  hesitation. 

I  ask  this  of  you  in  support  of  the  foreign  policy 
of  the  administration.  I  shall  not  know  how  to  deal 
with  other  matters  of  even  greater  delicacy  and  nearer 
consequence  if  you  do  not  grant  it  to  me  in  ungrudging 
measure. 


ADDRESS    ON    MEXICAN    AFFAIRS    DELIV 
ERED  AT  A  JOINT  SESSION  OF  THE  TWO 
HOUSES  OF  CONGRESS,  APRIL  20,  1914  x 

GENTLEMEN  or  THE  CONGRESS  : 

It  is  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  a  situation 
which  has  arisen  in  our  dealings  with  General  Victoriano 
Huerta  at  Mexico  City  which  calls  for  action,  and  to 
ask  your  advice  and  co-operation  in  acting  upon  it. 
On  the  9th  of  April  a  paymaster  of  the  IT.  S.  S.  Dol 
phin  landed  at  the  Iturbide  Bridge  landing  at  Tampico 
with  a  whaleboat  and  boat's  crew  to  take  off.  certain 
supplies  needed  by  his  ship,  and  while  engaged  in 
loading  the  boat  was  arrested  by  an  officer  and  squad 
of  men  of  the  army  of  General  Huerta.  Neither  the 
paymaster  nor  anyone  of  the  boat's  crew  was  armed. 
Two  of  the  men  were  in  the  boat  when  the  arrest  took 
place  and  were  obliged  to  leave  it  and  submit  to  be 
taken  into  custody,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
boat  carried,  both  at  her  bow  and  at  her  stern,  the  flag 
of  the  United  States.  The  officer  who  made  the  arrest 
was  proceeding  up  one  of  the  streets  of  the  town  with 
his  prisoners  when  met  by  an  officer  of  higher  authority, 
who  ordered  him  to  return  to  the  landing  and  await 
orders;  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  from  the  time 
of  the  arrest  orders  were  received  from  the  commander 

1  For  an  elaborate  and  sympathetic  statement  of  President  Wilson's  Mex 
ican  policy  see  an  interview  with  the  Honorable  Franklin  R.  Lane,  Secretary 
of  the  Interior,  contained  in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume,  pp.  392-406. 

33 


34  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

of  the  Huertista  forces  at  Tampico  for  the  release  of 
the  paymaster  and  his  men.  The  release  was  followed 
by  apologies  from  the  commander  and  later  by  an 
expression  of  regret  by  General  Huerta  himself.  Gen 
eral  Huerta  urged  that  martial  law  obtained  at  the 
time  at  Tampico;  that  orders  had  been  issued  that  no 
one  should  be  allowed  to  land  at  the  Iturbide  Bridge; 
and  that  our  sailors  had  no  right  to  land  there.  Our 
naval  commanders  at  the  port  had  not  been  notified 
of  any  such  prohibition;  and,  even  if  they  had  been, 
the  only  justifiable  course  open  to  the  local  authorities 
would  have  been  to  request  the  paymaster  and  his  crew 
to  withdraw  and  to  lodge  a  protest  with  the  command 
ing  officer  of  the  fleet.  Admiral  Mayo  regarded  the 
arrest  as  so  serious  an  affront  that  he  was  not  satis 
fied  with  the  apologies  offered,  but  demanded  that  the 
flag  of  the  United  States  be  saluted  with  special  cere 
mony  by  the  military  commander  of  the  port. 

The  incident  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  trivial  one, 
especially  as  two  of  the  men  arrested  were  taken  from 
the  boat  itself — that  is  to  say,  from  the  territory  of  the 
United  States — but  had  it  stood  by  itself  it  might  have 
been  attributed  to  the  ignorance  or  arrogance  of  a 
single  officer.  Unfortunately,  it  was  not  an  isolated 
case.  A  series  of  incidents  have  recently  occurred 
which  cannot  but  create  the  impression  that  the  repre 
sentatives  of  General  Huerta  were  willing  to  go  out 
of  their  way  to  show  disregard  for  the  dignity  and 
rights  of  this  Government  and  felt  perfectly  safe  in 
doing  what  they  pleased,  making  free  to  show  in  many 
ways  their  irritation  and  contempt.  A  few  days  after 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  35 

the  incident  at  Tampico  an  orderly  from  the  U.  S.  S. 
Minnesota  was  arrested  at  Vera  Cruz  while  ashore  in 
uniform  to  obtain  the  ship's  mail,  and  was  for  a  time 
thrown  into  jail.  An  official  dispatch  from  this  Gov 
ernment  to  its  embassy  at  Mexico  City  was  withheld 
by  the  authorities  of  the  telegraphic  service  until  per 
emptorily  demanded  by  our  charge  d'affaires  in  person. 
So  far  as  I  can  learn,  such  wrongs  and  annoyances  have 
been  suffered  to  occur  only  against  representatives  of 
the  United  States.  I  have  heard  of  no  complaints  from 
other  Governments  of  similar  treatment.  Subsequent 
explanations  and  formal  apologies  did  not  and  could 
not  alter  the  popular  impression,  which  it  is  possible 
it  had  been  the  object  of  the  Huertista  authorities  to 
create,  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  was 
being  singled  out,  and  might  be  singled  out  with  im 
punity,  for  slights  and  affronts  in  retaliation  for  its 
refusal  to  recognize  the  pretensions  of  General  Huerta 
to  be  regarded  as  the  constitutional  provisional  Presi 
dent  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico. 

The  manifest  danger  of  such  a  situation  was  that 
such  offenses  might  grow  from  bad  to  worse  until  some 
thing  happened  of  so  gross  and  intolerable  a  sort  as  to 
lead  directly  and  inevitably  to  armed  conflict.  It  was 
necessary  that  the  apologies  of  General  Huerta  and 
his  representatives  should  go  much  further,  that  they 
should  be  such  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  whole 
population  to  their  significance,  and  such  as  to  impress 
upon  General  Huerta  himself  the  necessity  of  seeing 
to  it  that  no  further  occasion  for  explanations  and  pro 
fessed  regrets  should  arise.  I,  therefore,  felt  it  my  duty 


36  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

to  sustain  Admiral  Mayo  in  the  whole  of  his  demand 
and  to  insist  that  the  flag  of  the  United  States  should 
be  saluted  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  a  new  spirit 
and  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Huertistas. 

Such  a  salute  General  Huerta  has  refused,  and  I 
have  come  to  ask  your  approval  and  support  in  the 
course  I  now  purpose  to  pursue. 

This  Government  can,  I  earnestly  hope,  in  no  cir 
cumstances  be  forced  into  war  with  the  people  of 
Mexico.  Mexico  is  torn  by  civil  strife.  If  we  are  to 
accept  the  tests  of  its  own  constitution,  it  has  no  gov 
ernment.  General  Huerta  has  set  his  power  up  in  the 
City  of  Mexico,  such  as  it  is,  without  right  and  by 
methods  for  which  there  can  be  no  justification.  Only 
part  of  the  country  is  under  his  control.  If  armed 
conflict  should  unhappily  come  as  a  result  of  his  atti 
tude  of  personal  resentment  toward  this  Government, 
we  should  be  fighting  only  General  Huerta  and  those 
who  adhere  to  him  and  give  him  their  support,  and  our 
object  would  be  only  to  restore  to  the  people  of  the 
distracted  Republic  the  opportunity  to  set  up  again 
their  own  laws  and  their  own  government. 

But  I  earnestly  hope  that  war  is  not  now  in  ques 
tion.  I  believe  that  I  speak  for  the  American  people 
when  I  say  that  we  do  not  desire  to  control  in  any 
degree  the  affairs  of  our  sister  Republic.  Our  feeling 
for  the  people  of  Mexico  is  one  of  deep  and  genuine 
friendship,  and  everything  that  we  have  so  far  done 
or  refrained  from  doing  has  proceeded  from  our  desire 
to  help  them,  not  to  hinder  or  embarrass  them.  We 
would  not  wish  even  to  exercise  the  good  offices  of 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  37 

friendship  without  their  welcome  and  consent.  The 
people  of  Mexico  are  entitled  to  settle  their  own  do 
mestic  affairs  in  their  own  way,  and  we  sincerely  desire 
to  respect  their  right.  The  present  situation  need  have 
none  of  the  grave  implications  of  interference  if  we 
deal  with  it  promptly,  firmly,  and  wisely. 

No  doubt  I  could  do  what  is  necessary  in  the  cir 
cumstances  to  enforce  respect  for  our  Government 
without  recourse  to  the  Congress,  and  yet  not  exceed 
my  constitutional  powers  as  President;  but  I  do  not 
wish  to  act  in  a  matter  possibly  of  so  grave  consequence 
except  in  close  conference  and  co-operation  with  both 
the  Senate  and  House.  I,  therefore,  come  to  ask  your 
approval  that  I  should  use  the  armed  forces  of  the 
United  States  in  such  ways  and  to  such  an  extent  as 
may  be  necessary  to  obtain  from  General  Huerta  and 
his  adherents  the  fullest  recognition  of  the  rights  and 
dignity  of  the  United  States,  even  amidst  the  distress 
ing  conditions  now  unhappily  obtaining  in  Mexico. 

There  can  in  what  we  do  be  no  thought  of  aggres- , 
sion  or  of  selfish  aggrandizement.  We  seek  to  main 
tain  the  dignity  and  authority  of  the  United  States 
only  because  we  wish  always  to  keep  our  great  influ 
ence  unimpaired  for  the  uses  of  liberty,  both  in  the 
United  States  and  wherever  else  it  may  be  employed 
for  the  benefit  of  mankind. 


A  WAR  OF  SERVICE 

ADDRESS  IN  MEMORY  OF  THE  AMERICANS 

KILLED  AT  VERA  CRUZ,  DELIVERED  AT 

THE  BROOKLYN  NAVY  YARD, 

MAY  11,  1914 

In  order  to  prevent  the  delivery  to  General  Huerta's  Government  of  a  cargo 
of  supplies  and  ammunition,  brought  from  Europe  by  the  German  steamer 
Ypringa,  President  Wilson,  on  April  21,  1914,  ordered  a  detachment  of  American 
marines  on  board  the  U.S.S.  Prairie  and  the  U.S.S.  Florida  to  land  at  Vera 
Cruz  and  to  seize  the  Custom  House  in  that  city.  This  they  did  at  the  loss  of 
nineteen  killed  and  seventy  wounded.  The  bodies  of  the  marines  were  brought 
to  the  United  States  for  burial,  and  at  their  memorial  service  President  Wilson 
delivered  the  following  address. 

MR.  SECRETARY: 

I  know  that  the  feelings  which  characterize  all  who 
stand  about  me  and  the  whole  Nation  at  this  hour  are 
not  feelings  which  can  be  suitably  expressed  in  terms  of 
attempted  oratory  or  eloquence.  They  are  things  too 
deep  for  ordinary  speech.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  a 
singular  mixture  of  feelings.  The  feeling  that  is  upper 
most  is  one  of  profound  grief  that  these  lads  should  have 
had  to  go  to  their  death;  and  yet  there  is  mixed  with 
that  grief  a  profound  pride  that  they  should  have  gone 
as  they  did,  and,  if  I  may  say  it  out  of  my  heart,  a  touch 
of  envy  of  those  who  were  permitted  so  quietly,  so  nobly, 
to  do  their  duty.  Have  you  thought  of  it,  men?  Here 
is  the  roster  of  the  Navy — the  list  of  the  men,  officers  and 
enlisted  men  and  marines — and  suddenly  there  swim 
nineteen  stars  out  of  the  list — men  who  have  suddenly 
been  lifted  into  a  firmament  of  memory  where  we  shall 

38 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  39 

always  see  their  names  shine,  not  because  they  called 
upon  us  to  admire  them,  but  because  they  served  us, 
without  asking  any  questions  and  in  the  performance  of 
a  duty  which  is  laid  upon  us  as  well  as  upon  them. 

Duty  is  not  an  uncommon  thing,  gentlemen.  Men  are 
performing  it  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life  all  around  us 
all  the  time,  and  they  are  making  great  sacrifices  to  per 
form  it.  What  gives  men  like  these  peculiar  distinction 
is  not  merely  that  they  did  their  duty,  but  that  their 
duty  had  nothing  to  do  with  them  or  their  own  personal 
and  peculiar  interests.  They  did  not  give  their  lives  for 
themselves.  They  gave  their  lives  for  us,  because  we 
called  upon  them  as  a  Nation  to  perform  an  unexpected 
duty.  That  is  the  way  in  which  men  grow  distinguished, 
and  that  is  the  only  way,  by  serving  somebody  else  than 
themselves.  And  what  greater  thing  could  you  serve 
than  a  Nation  such  as  this  we  love  and  are  proud  of? 
Are  you  sorry  for  these  lads?  Are  you  sorry  for  the 
way  they  will  be  remembered  ?  Does  it  not  quicken  your 
pulses  to  think  of  the  list  of  them  *?  I  hope  to  God  none 
of  you  may  join  the. list,  but  if  you  do  you  will  join  an 
immortal  company. 

So,  while  we  are  profoundly  sorrowful,  and  while 
there  goes  out  of  our  hearts  a  very  deep  and  affectionate 
sympathy  for  the  friends  and  relatives  of  these  lads  who 
for  the  rest  of  their  lives  shall  mourn  them,  though  with 
a  touch  of  pride,  we  know  why  we  do  not  go  away  from 
this  occasion  cast  down,  but  with  our  heads  lifted  and 
our  eyes  on  the  future  of  this  country,  with  absolute 
confidence  of  how  it  will  be  worked  out.  Not  only  upon 
the  mere  vague  future  of  this  country,  but  upon  the 


40  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

y 

immediate  future.  We  have  gone  down  to  Mexico  to 
serve  mankind  if  we  can  find  out  the  way.  We  do  not 
want  to  fight  the  Mexicans.  We  want  to  serve  the 
Mexicans  if  we  can,  because  we  know  how  we  would 
like  to  be  free,  and  how  we  would  like  to  be  served  if 
there  were  friends  standing  by  in  such  case  ready  to 
serve  us.  A  war  of  aggression  is  not  a  war  in  which  it 
is  a  proud  thing  to  die,  but  a  war  of  service  is  a  thing 
in  which  it  is  a  proud  thing  to  die. 

Notice  how  truly  these  men  were  of  our  blood.  I 
mean  of  our  American  blood,  which  is  not  drawn  from 
any  one  country,  which  is  not  drawn  from  any  one 
stock,  which  is  not  drawn  from  any  one  language  of 
the  modern  world;  but  free  men  everywhere  have  sent 
their  sons  and  their  brothers  and  their  daughters  to 
this  country  in  order  to  make  that  great  compounded 
Nation  which  consists  of  all  the  sturdy  elements  and  of 
all  the  best  elements  of  the  whole  globe.  I  listened 
again  to  this  list  of  the  dead  with  a  profound  interest 
because  of  the  mixture  of  the  names,  for  the  names 
bear  the  marks  of  the  several  national  stocks  from 
which  these  men  came.  But  they  are  not  Irishmen  or 
Germans  or  Frenchmen  or  Hebrews  or  Italians  any 
more.  They  were  not  when  they  went  to  Vera  Cruz; 
they  were  Americans,  every  one  of  them,  and  with  no 
difference  in  their  Americanism  because  of  the  stock 
from  which  they  came.  They  were  in  a  peculiar  sense 
of  our  blood,  and  they  proved  it  by  showing  that  they 
were  of  our  spirit — that  no  matter  what  their  deriva 
tion,  no  matter  where  their  people  came  from,  they 
thought  and  wished  and  did  the  things  that  were  Ameri- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  41 

can;  and  the  flag  under  which  they  served  was  a  flag 
in  which  all  the  blood  of  mankind  is  united  to  make  a 
free  Nation. 

War,  gentlemen,  is  only  a  sort  of  dramatic  represen 
tation,  a  sort  of  dramatic  symbol,  of  a  thousand  forms 
of  duty.  I  never  went  into  battle;  I  never  was  under 
fire;  but  I  fancy  that  there  are  some  things  just  as 
hard  to  do  as  to  go  under  fire.  I  fancy  that  it  is  just 
as  hard  to  do  your  duty  when  men  are  sneering  at  you 
as  when  they  are  shooting  at  you.  When  they  shoot  at 
you,  they  can  only  take  your  natural  life;  when  they 
sneer  at  you,  they  can  wound  your  living  heart,  and 
men  who  are  brave  enough,  steadfast  enough,  steady 
in  their  principles  enough,  to  go  about  their  duty  with 
regard  to  their  fellow-men,  no  matter  whether  there 
are  hisses  or  cheers,  men  who  can  do  what  Rudyard 
Kipling  in  one  of  his  poems  wrote,  "Meet  with  tri 
umph  and  disaster  and  treat  those  two  impostors  just 
the  same,"  are  men  for  a  nation  to  be  proud  of.  Mor 
ally  speaking,  disaster  and  triumph  are  impostors.  The 
cheers  of  the  moment  are  not  what  a  man  ought  to 
think  about,  but  the  verdict  of  his  conscience  and  of  the 
consciences  of  mankind. 

When  I  look  at  you,  I  feel  as  if  I  also  and  we  all 
were  enlisted  men.  Not  enlisted  in  your  particular 
brancn  of  the  service,  but  enlisted  to  serve  the  country, 
no  matter  what  may  come,  even  though  we  may  sacri 
fice  our  lives  in  the  arduous  endeavor.  We  are  expected 
to  put  the  utmost  energy  of  every  power  that  we  have 
into  the  service  of  our  fellow-men,  never  sparing  our 
selves,  not  condescending  to  think  of  what  is  going  to 


42  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

happen  to  ourselves,  but  ready,  if  need  be,  to  go  to  the 
utter  length  of  complete  self-sacrifice. 

As  I  stand  and  look  at  you  to-day  and  think  of  these 
spirits  that  have  gone  from  us,  I  know  that  the  road  is 
clearer  for  the  future.  These  boys  have  shown  us  the 
way,  and  it  is  easier  to  walk  on  it  because  they  have 
gone  before  and  shown  us  how.  May  God  grant  to  all 
of  us  that  vision  of  patriotic  service  which  here  in 
solemnity  and  grief  and  pride  is  borne  in  upon  our 
hearts  and  consciences! 


ADDRESS     AT     THE     UNVEILING    OF     THE 
STATUE  TO  THE  MEMORY  OF  COMMO 
DORE  JOHN  BARRY,  WASHINGTON, 
MAY  16,  1914 

John  Barry,  the  first  senior  officer  to  be  given  the  rank  of  Commodore  after 
the  reorganization  of  the  Navy  during  Washington's  administration  in  1794, 
was  born  in  Ireland  in  1745  and  died  in  the  United  States  in  1803.  He  emi 
grated  to  the  colonies  about  1760  and  settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  acquired 
wealth  as  the  master  of  a  merchantman.  Upon  the  declaration  of  independence, 
he  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  brig  appropriately  named  the  Lexington, 
in  1776,  and,  while  in  command  of  this  vessel,  captured  the  tender  Edward,  said 
to  be  the  first  ship  ever  taken  by  a  commissioned  officer  of  the  United  States 
Navy. 

MR.  SECRETARY,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

I  esteem  it  a  privilege  to  be  present  on  this  inter 
esting  occasion,  and  I  am  very  much  tempted  to  antici 
pate  some  part  of  what  the  orators  of  the  day  will  say 
about  the  character  of  the  great  man  whose  memory 
we  celebrate.  If  I  were  to  attempt  an  historical 
address,  I  might,  however,  be  led  too  far  afield.  I  am 
going  to  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  of  drawing  a  few 
inferences  from  the  significance  of  this  occasion. 

I  think  that  we  can  never  be  present  at  a  ceremony 
of  this  kind,  which  carries  our  thought  back  to  the 
great  Revolution,  by  means  of  which  our  Government 
was  set  up,  without  feeling  that  it  is  an  occasion  of 
reminder,  of  renewal,  of  refreshment,  when  we  turn 
our  thoughts  again  to  the  great  issues  which  were  pre 
sented  to  the  little  Nation  which  then  asserted  its 
independence  to  the  world;  to  which  it  spoke  both  in 
eloquent  representations  of  its  cause  and  in  the  sound 
of  arms,  and  ask  ourselves  what  it  was  that  these  men 

43 


44  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

fought  for.  No  one  can  turn  to  the  career  of  Com 
modore  Barry  without  feeling  a  touch  of  the  enthusi 
asm  with  which  he  devoted  an  originating  mind  to  the 
great  cause  which  he  intended  to  serve,  and  it  behooves 
us,  living  in  this  age  when  no  man  can  question  the 
power  of  the  Nation,  when  no  man  would  dare  to  doubt 
its  right  and  its  determination  to  act  for  itself,  to  ask 
what  it  was  that  filled  the  hearts  of  these  men  when 
they  set  the  Nation  up. 

For  patriotism,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  in  my  mind 
not  merely  a  sentiment.  There  is  a  certain  efferves 
cence,  I  suppose,  which  ought  to  be  permitted  to  those 
who  allow  their  hearts  to  speak  in  the  celebration  of  the 
glory  and  majesty  of  their  country,  but  the  country 
can  have  no  glory  and  no  majesty  unless  there  be  a 
deep  principle  and  conviction  back  of  the  enthusiasm. 
Patriotism  is  a  principle,  not  a  mere  sentiment.  No 
man  can  be  a  true  patriot  who  does  not  feel  himself 
shot  through  and  through  with  a  deep  ardor  for  what 
his  country  stands  for,  what  its  existence  means,  what 
its  purpose  is  declared  to  be  in  its  history  and  in  its 
policy.  I  recall  those  solemn  lines  of  the  poet  Tenny 
son  in  which  he  tries  to  give  voice  to  his  conception 
of  what  it  is  that  stirs  within  a  nation:  "Some  sense  of 
duty,  something  of  a  faith,  some  reverence  for  the  laws 
ourselves  have  made,  some  patient  force  to  change 
them  when  we  will,  some  civic  manhood  firm  against 
the  crowd;"  steadfastness,  clearness  of  purpose,  cour 
age,  persistency,  and  that  uprightness  which  comes 
from  the  clear  thinking  of  men  who  wish  to  serve  not 
themselves  but  their  fellow-men. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  45 

What  does  the  United  States  stand  for,  then,  that 
our  hearts  should  be  stirred  by  the  memory  of  the  men 
who  set  her  Constitution  up  ?  John  Barry  fought,  like  L 
every  other  man  in  the  Eevolution,  in  order  that  Amer 
ica  might  be  free  to  make  her  own  life  without  inter 
ruption  or  disturbance  from  any  other  quarter.  You 
can  sum  the  whole  thing  up  in  that,  that  America  had 
a  right  to  her  own  self-determined  life;  and  what  are 
our  corollaries  from  that?  You  do  not  have  to  go  back 
to  stir  your  thoughts  again  with  the  issues  of  the  Revo 
lution.  Some  of  the  issues  of  the  Eevolution  were  not 
the  cause  of  it,  but  merely  the  occasion  for  it.  There 
are  just  as  vital  things  stirring  now  that  concern  the 
existence  of  the  Nation  as  were  stirring  then,  and  every 
man  who  worthily  stands  in  this  presence  should  exam 
ine  himself  and  see  whether  he  has  the  full  conception 
of  what  it  means  that  America  should  live  her  own  life. 
Washington  saw  it  when  he  wrote  his  farewell  address. 
It  was  not  merely  because  of  passing  and  transient  cir 
cumstances  that  Washington  said  that  we  must  keep 
free  from  entangling  alliances.  It  was  because  he  saw 
that  no  country  had  yet  set  its  face  in  the  same  direc 
tion  in  which  America  had  set  her  face.  We  cannot 
form  alliances  with  those  who  are  not  going  our  way; 
and  in  our  might  and  majesty  and  in  the  confidence  and 
definiteness  of  our  own  purpose  we  need  not  and  we 
should  not  form  alliances  with  any  nation  in  the  world. 
Those  who  are  right,  those  who  study  their  consciences  > 
in  determining  their  policies,  those  who  hold  their  honor 
higher  than  their  advantage,  do  not  need  alliances. 
You  need  alliances  when  you  are  not  strong,  and  you 


46  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

are  weak  only  when  you  are  not  true  to  yourself.  You 
are  weak  only  when  you  are  in  the  wrong ;  you  are  weak 
only  when  you  are  afraid  to  do  the  right ;  you  are  weak 
only  when  you  doubt  your  cause  and  the  majesty  of  a 
nation's  might  asserted. 

There  is  another  corollary.  John  Barry  was  an 
Irishman,  but  his  heart  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  him. 
He  did  not  leave  it  in  Ireland.  And  the  test  of  all 
of  us — for  all  of  us  had  our  origins  on  the  other  side 
of  the  sea — is  whether  we  will  assist  in  enabling  Amer 
ica  to  live  her  separate  and  independent  life,  retaining 
our  ancient  affections,  indeed,  but  determining  every 
thing  that  we  do  by  the  interests  that  exist  on  this  side 
of  the  sea.  Some  Americans  need  hyphens  in  their 
names,  because  only  part  of  them  has  come  over;  but 
when  the  whole  man  has  come  over,  heart  and  thought 
and  all,  the  hyphen  drops  of  its  own  weight  out  of  his 
name.  This  man  was  not  an  Irish- American ;  he  was 
an  Irishman  who  became  an  American.  I  venture  to 
say  if  he  voted  he  voted  with  regard  to  the  questions 
as  they  looked  on  this  side  of  the  water  and  not  as 
they  affected  the  other  side;  and  that  is  my  infallible 
test  of  a  genuine  American,  that  when  he  votes  or  when 
he  acts  or  when  he  fights  his  heart  and  his  thought  are 
centered  nowhere  but  in  the  emotions  and  the  purposes 
and  the  policies  of  the  United  States. 

This  man  illustrates  for  me  all  the  splendid  strength 
which  we  brought  into  this  country  by  the  magnet  of 
freedom.  Men  have  been  drawn  to  this  country  by 
the  same  thing  that  has  made  us  love  this  country — by 
the  opportunity  to  live  their  own  lives  and  to  think 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  47 

their  own  thoughts  and  to  let  their  whole  natures  ex 
pand  with  the  expansion  of  a  free  and  mighty  Nation. 
We  have  brought  out  of  the  stocks  of  all  the  world  all 
the  best  impulses  and  have  appropriated  them  and 
Americanized  them  and  translated  them  into  the  glory 
and  majesty  of  a  great  country. 

So,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  when  we  go  out  from  this 
presence  we  ought  to  take  this  idea  with  us  that  we, 
too,  are  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  enabling  America  to 
live  her  own  life,  to  be  the  justest,  the  most  progressive, 
the  most  honorable,  the  most  enlightened  Nation  in  the 
world.  Any  man  that  touches  our  honor  is  our  enemy. 
Any  man  who  stands  in  the  way  of  the  kind  of  prog 
ress  which  makes  for  human  freedom  cannot  call  him 
self  our  friend.  Any  man  who  does  not  feel  behind 
him  the  whole  push  and  rush  and  compulsion  that  filled 
men's  hearts  in  the  time  of  the  Revolution  is  no  Ameri 
can.  No  man  who  thinks  first  of  himself  and  after 
wards  of  his  country  can  call  himself  an  American. 
America  must  be  enriched  by  us.  We  must  not  live 
upon  her;  she  must  live  by  means  of  us. 

I,  for  one,  come  to  this  shrine  to  renew  the  impulses 
of  American  democracy.  I  would  be  ashamed  of  myself 
if  I  went  away  from  this  place  without  realizing  again 
that  every  bit  of  selfishness  must  be  purged  from  our 
policy,  that  every  bit  of  self-seeking  must  be  purged 
from  our  individual  consciences,  and  that  we  must  be 
great,  if  we  would  be  great  at  all,  in  the  light  and 
illumination  of  the  example  of  men  who  gave  every 
thing  that  they  were  and  everything  that  they  had  to 
the  glory  and  honor  of  America. 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF 

THE    UNITED    STATES    NAVAL 

ACADEMY,  JUNE  5,  1914 

The  United  States  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis  renders  to  the  Navy  the 
services  which  the  Military  Academy  established  at  West  Point  renders  the 
Army  of  the  United  States.  The  midshipmen,  as  the  students  of  this  institution 
are  called,  are  appointed,  seventeen  by  the  President,  twenty-five  by  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  and  three  by  each  Senator  and  Member  of  Congress.  Upon 
mental  and  physical  examination  they  are  admitted  and  pursue  a  course  of 
four  years  of  technical  study  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States.  The  total 
number  allowed  by  the  law  is  3,128;  the  actual  number  of  midshipmen  in 
regular  course  in  the  fall  of  1917  is  1,442. 

It  is  interesting  to  recall  that  the  Naval  Academy  was  established  on 
October  10,  1845,  without  act  of  Congress,  by  the  distinguished  American  his 
torian,  George  Bancroft,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  President  Polk's  adminis 
tration,  by  the  simple  device  of  removing  the  instructors  from  the  men-of-war, 
who  accompanied  and  instructed  the  midshipmen,  and  locating  instructors  and 
midshipmen  at  Annapolis  in  Fort  Severn,  assigned  to  the  enterprising  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  by  the  then  Secretary  of  War. 

MK.  SUPERINTENDENT,  YOUNG  GENTLEMEN,  LADIES  AND 

GENTLEMEN  : 

During  the  greater  part  of  my  life  I  have  been 
associated  with  young  men,  and  on  occasions  it  seems 
to  me  without  number  have  faced  bodies  of  youngsters 
going  out  to  take  part  in  the  activities  of  the  world, 
but  I  have  a  consciousness  of  a  different  significance 
in  this  occasion  from  that  which  I  have  felt  on  other 
similar  occasions.  When  I  have  faced  the  graduating 
classes  at  universities  I  have  felt  that  I  was  facing  a 
great  conjecture.  They  were  going  out  into  all  sorts 
of  pursuits  and  with  every  degree  of  preparation  for 
the  particular  thing  they  were  expecting  to  do;  some 

48 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  49 

without  any  preparation  at  all,  for  they  did  not  know 
what  they  expected  to  do.  But  in  facing  you  I  am 
facing  men  who  are  trained  for  a  special  thing.  You 
know  what  you  are  going  to  do,  and  you  are  under  the 
eye  of  the  whole  Nation  in  doing  it.  For  you,  gentle 
men,  are  to  be  part  of  the  power  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States.  There  is  a  very  deep  and  solemn 
significance  in  that  fact,  and  I  am  sure  that  every  one 
of  .you  feels  it.  The  moral  is  perfectly  obvious.  Be 
ready  and  fit  for  anything  that  you  have  to  do.  And 
keep  ready  and  fit.  Do  not  grow  slack.  Do  not  sup 
pose  that  your  education  is  over  because  you  have  re 
ceived  your  diplomas  from  the  academy.  Your  educa 
tion  has  just  begun.  Moreover,  you  are  to  have  a  very 
peculiar  privilege  which  not  many  of  your  predecessors 
have  had.  You  are  yourselves  going  to  become  teachers. 
You  are  going  to  teach  those  50,000  fellow  countrymen 
of  yours  who  are  the  enlisted  men  of  the  Navy.  You 
are  going  to  make  them  fitter  to  obey  your  orders  and 
to  serve  the  country.  You  are  going  to  make  them 
fitter  to  see  what  the  orders  mean  in  their  outlook  upon 
life  and  upon  the  service ;  and  that  is  a  great  privilege, 
for  out  of  you  are  going  the  energy  and  intelligence 
which  are  going  to  quicken  the  whole  body  of  the 
United  States  Navy. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  that  prospect,  but  I  want  to 
ask  you  not  to  get  the  professional  point  of  view.  I 
would  ask  it  of  you  if  you  were  lawyers;  I  would  ask 
it  of  you  if  you  were  merchants ;  I  would  ask  it  of  you 
whatever  you  expected  to  be.  Do  not  get  the  profes 
sional  point  of  view.  There  is  nothing  narrower  or 


50  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

more  unserviceable  than  the  professional  point  of  view, 
to  have  the  attitude  toward  life  that  it  centers  in  your 
profession.  It  does  not.  Your  profession  is  only  one 
of  the  many  activities  which  are  meant  to  keep  the 
world  straight,  and  to  keep  the  energy  in  its  blood  and 
in  its  muscle.  We  are  all  of  us  in  this  world,  as  I  under 
stand  it,  to  set  forward  the  affairs  of  the  whole  world, 
though  we  play  a  special  part  in  that  great  function. 
The  Navy  goes  all  over  the  world,  and  I  think  it  is  to 
be  congratulated  upon  having  that  sort  of  illustration 
of  what  the  world  is  and  what  it  contains;  and  inas 
much  as  you  are  going  all  over  the  world  you  ought  to 
be  the  better  able  to  see  the  relation  that  your  country 
bears  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 

It  ought  to  be  one  of  your  thoughts  all  the  time  that 
you  are  sample  Americans — not  merely  sample  Navy 
men,  not  merely  sample  soldiers,  but  sample  Ameri 
cans — and  that  you  have  the  point  of  view  of  America 
with  regard  to  her  Navy  and  her  Army;  that  she  is 
using  them  as  the  instruments  of  civilization,  not  as 
the  instruments  of  aggression.  The  idea  of  America 
is  to  serve  humanity,  and  every  time  you  let  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  free  to  the  wind  you  ought  to  realize  that 
that  is  in  itself  a  message  that  you  are  on  an  errand 
which  other  navies  have  sometimes  forgotten;  not  an 
errand  of  conquest,  but  an  errand  of  service.  I  always 
have  the  same  thought  when  I  look  at  the  flag  of  the 
United  States,  for  I  know  something  of  the  history  of 
the  struggle  of  mankind  for  liberty.  When  I  look  at 
that  flag  it  seems  to  me  as  if  the  white  stripes  were 
strips  of  parchment  upon  which  are  written  the  rights 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  51 

of  man,  and  the  red  stripes  the  streams  of  blood  by 
which  those  rights  have  been  made  good.  Then  in  the 
little  blue  firmament  in  the  corner  have  swung  out  the 
stars  of  the  States  of  the  American  Union.  So  it  is, 
as  it  were,  a  sort  of  floating  charter  that  has  come  down 
to  us  from  Runnymede,  when  men  said,  "We  will  not 
have  masters;  we  will  be  a  people,  and  we  will  seek 
our  own  liberty." 

You  are  not  serving  a  government,  gentlemen;  you 
are  serving  a  people.  For  we  who  for  the  time  being 
constitute  the  Government  are  merely  instruments  for 
a  little  while  in  the  hands  of  a  great  Nation  which 
chooses  whom  it  will  to  carry  out  its  decrees  and  who 
invariably  rejects  the  man  who  forgets  the  ideals  which 
it  intended  him  to  serve.  So  that  I  hope  that  wherever 
you  go  you  will  have  a  generous,  comprehending  love 
of  the  people  you  come  into  contact  with,  and  will  come 
back  and  tell  us,  if  you  can,  what  service  the  United 
States  can  render  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  world; 
tell  us  where  you  see  men  suffering;  tell  us  where  you 
think  advice  will  lift  them  up;  tell  us  where  you  think 
that  the  counsel  of  statesmen  may  better  the  fortunes 
of  unfortunate  men;  always  having  it  in  mind  that  you 
are  champions  of  what  is  right  and  fair  all  'round  for 
the  public  welfare,  no  matter  where  you  are,  and 
that  it  is  that  you  are  ready  to  fight  for  and  not 
merely  on  the  drop  of  a  hat  or  upon  some  slight 
punctilio,  but  that  you  are  champions  of  your  fel 
low-men,  particularly  of  that  great  body  one  hun 
dred  million  strong  whom  you  represent  in  the  United 
States. 


52  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

What  do  you  think  is  the  most  lasting  impression 
that  those  boys  down  at  Vera  Cruz  are  going  to  leave? 
They  have  had  to  use  some  force — I  pray  God  it  may 
not  be  necessary  for  them  to  use  any  more — but  do 
you  think  that  the  way  they  fought  is  going  to  be  the 
most  lasting  impression1?  Have  men  not  fought  ever 
since  the  world  began?  Is  there  anything  new  in  using 
force?  The  new  things  in  the  world  are  the  things 
that  are  divorced  from  force.  The  things  that  show  the 
moral  compulsions  of  the  human  conscience,  those  are 
the  things  by  which  we  have  been  building  up  civiliza 
tion,  not  by  force.  And  the  lasting  impression  that 
those  boys  are  going  to  leave  is  this,  that  they  exercise 
self-control;  that  they  are  ready  and  diligent  to  make 
the  place  where  they  went  fitter  to  live  in  than  they 
found  it;  that  they  regarded  other  people's  rights;  that 
they  did  not  strut  and  bluster,  but  went  quietly,  like 
self-respecting  gentlemen,  about  their  legitimate  work. 
And  the  people  of  Yera  Cruz,  who  feared  the  Ameri 
cans  and  despised  the  Americans,  are  going  to  get  a 
very  different  taste  in  their  mouths  about  the  whole 
thing  when  the  boys  of  the  Navy  and  the  Army  come 
away.  Is  that  not  something  to  be  proud  of,  that  you 
know  how  to  use  force  like  men  of  conscience  and  like 
gentlemen,  serving  your  fellow-men  and  not  trying  to 
overcome  them?  Like  that  gallant  gentleman  who  has 
so  long  borne  the  heats  and  perplexities  and  distresses 
of  the  situation  in  Vera  Cruz — Admiral  Fletcher.  I 
mention  him,  because  his  service  there  has  been  longer 
and  so  much  of  the  early  perplexities  fell  upon  him. 
I  have  been  in  almost  daily  communication  with  Ad- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  53 

miral  Fletcher,  and  I  have  tested  his  temper.  I  have 
tested  his  discretion.  I  know  that  he  is  a  man  with  a 
touch  of  statesmanship  about  him,  and  he  has  grown 
bigger  in  my  eye  each  day  as  I  have  read  his  dispatches, 
for  he  has  sought  always  to  serve  the  thing  he  was 
trying  to  do  in  the  temper  that  we  all  recognize  and 
love  to  believe  is  typically  American. 

I  challenge  you  youngsters  to  go  out  with  these  con 
ceptions,  knowing  that  you  are  part  of  the  Government 
and  force  of  the  United  States  and  that  men  will  judge 
us  by  you.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  verdict.  I  cannot 
look  in  your  faces  and  doubt  what  it  will  be,  but  I  want 
you  to  take  these  great  engines  of  force  out  onto  the 
seas  like  adventurers  enlisted  for  the  elevation  of  the 
spirit  of  the  human  race.  For  that  is  the  only  distinc 
tion  that  America  has.  Other  nations  have  been  strong, 
other  nations  have  piled  wealth  as  high  as  the  sky, 
but  they  have  come  into  disgrace  because  they  used 
their  force  and  their  wealth  for  the  oppression  of  man 
kind  and  their  own  aggrandizement;  and  America  will 
not  bring  glory  to  herself,  but  disgrace,  by  following 
the  beaten  paths  of  history.  We  must  strike  out  upon 
new  paths,  and  we  must  count  upon  you  gentlemen  to 
be  the  explorers  who  will  carry  this  spirit  and  spread 
this  message  all  over  the  seas  and  in  every  port  of  the 
civilized  world. 

You  see,  therefore,  why  I  said  that  when  I  faced  you 
I  felt  there  was  a  special  significance.  I  am  not  present 
on  an  occasion  when  you  are  about  to  scatter  on  various 
errands.  You  are  all  going  on  the  same  errand,  and 
I  like  to  feel  bound  with  you  in  one  common  organiza- 


54  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

tion  for  the  glory  of  America.  And  her  glory  goes 
deeper  than  all  the  tinsel,  goes  deeper  than  the  sound 
of  guns  and  the  clash  of  sabers;  it  goes  down  to  the 
very  foundations  of  those  things  that  have  made  the 
spirit  of  men  free  and  happy  and  content. 


ADDRESS  AT  INDEPENDENCE  HALL, 
PHILADELPHIA,    JULY    4,    1914 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS  : 

We  are  assembled  to  celebrate  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eighth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  United 
States.  I  suppose  that  we  can  more  vividly  realize  the 
circumstances  of  that  birth  standing  on  this  historic  spot 
than  it  would  be  possible  to  realize  them  anywhere  else. 
The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  written  in  Phila 
delphia;  it  was  adopted  in  this  historic  building  by 
which  we  stand.  I  have  just  had  the  privilege  of  sit 
ting  in  the  chair  of  the  great  man  who  presided  over 
the  deliberations  of  those  who  gave  the  declaration  to 
the  world.  My  hand  rests  at  this  moment  upon  the 
table  upon  which  the  declaration  was  signed.  We  can 
feel  that  we  are  almost  in  the  visible  and  tangible  pres 
ence  of  a  great  historic  transaction. 

Have  you  ever  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
or  attended  with  close  comprehension  to  the  real  char 
acter  of  it  when  you  have  heard  it  read  I  If  you  have, 
you  will  know  that  it  is  not  a  Fourth  of  July  oration. 
The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  document  pre 
liminary  to  war.  It  was  a  vital  piece  of  practical  busi 
ness,  not  a  piece  of  rhetoric ;  and  if  you  will  pass  beyond 
those  preliminary  passages  which  we  are  accustomed  to 
quote  about  the  rights  of  men  and  read  into  the  heart  of 
the  document  you  will  see  that  it  is  very  express  and 
detailed,  that  it  consists  of  a  series  of  definite  specifica- 

55 


56  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

tions  concerning  actual  public  business  of  the  day.  Not 
the  business  of  our  day,  for  the  matter  with  which  it 
deals  is  past,  but  the  business  of  that  first  revolution  by 
which  the  Nation  was  set  up,  the  business  of  1776.  Its 
general  statements,  its  general  declarations  cannot  mean 
anything  to  us  unless  we  append  to  it  a  similar  specific 
body  of  particulars  as  to  what  we  consider  the  essential 
business  of  our  own  day. 

Liberty  does  not  consist,  my  fellow  citizens,  in  mere 
general  declarations  of  the  rights  of  man.  It  consists 
in  the  translation  of  those  declarations  into  definite 
action.  Therefore,  standing  here  where  the  declaration 
was  adopted,  reading  its  business-like  sentences,  we 
ought  to  ask  ourselves  what  there  is  in  it  for  us.  There 
is  nothing  in  it  for  us  unless  we  can  translate  it  into  the 
terms  of  our  own  conditions  and  of  our  own  lives. 
We  must  reduce  it  to  what  the  lawyers  call  a  bill  of 
particulars.  It  contains  a  bill  of  particulars,  but  the 
bill  of  particulars  of  1776.  If  we  would  keep  it  alive, 
we  must  fill  it  with  a  bill  of  particulars  of  the  year 
1914. 

The  task  to  which  we  have  constantly  to  readdress 
ourselves  is  the  task  of  proving  that  we  are  worthy  of 
the  men  who  drew  this  great  declaration  and  know  what 
they  would  have  done  in  our  circumstances.  Patriotism 
consists  in  some  very  practical  things — practical  in  that 
they  belong  to  the  life  of  every  day,  that  they  wear  no 
extraordinary  distinction  about  them,  that  they  are  con 
nected  with  commonplace  duty.  The  way  to  be  patriotic 
in  America  is  not  only  to  love  America,  but  to  love  the 
duty  that  lies  nearest  to  our  hand  and  know  that  in 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  57 

performing  it  we  are  serving  our  country.  There  are 
some  gentlemen  in  Washington,  for  example,  at  this  very 
moment  who  are  showing  themselves  very  patriotic  in  a 
way  which  does  not  attract  wide  attention  but  seems  to 
belong  to  mere  everyday  obligations.  The  Members  of 
the  House  and  Senate  who  stay  in  hot  Washington  to 
maintain  a  quorum  of  the  Houses  and  transact  the  all- 
important  business  of  the  Nation  are  doing  an  act  of 
patriotism.  I  honor  them  for  it,  and  I  am  glad  to  stay 
there  and  stick  by  them  until  the  work  is  done. 

It  is  patriotic,  also,  to  learn  what  the  facts  of  our 
national  life  are  and  to  face  them  with  candor.  I  have 
heard  a  great  many  facts  stated  about  the  present  busi 
ness  condition  of  this  country,  for  example — a  great 
many  allegations  of  fact,  at  any  rate,  but  the  allegations 
do  not  tally  with  one  another.  And  yet  I  know  that 
truth  always  matches  with  truth;  and  when  I  find  some 
insisting  that  everything  is  going  wrong  and  others 
insisting  that  everything  is  going  right,  and  when  I 
know  from  a  wide  observation  of  the  general  circum 
stances  of  the  country  taken  as  a  whole  that  things  are 
going  extremely  well,  I  wonder  what  those  who  are  cry 
ing  out  that  things  are  wrong  are  trying  to  do.  Are 
they  trying  to  serve  the  country,  or  are  they  trying  to 
serve  something  smaller  than  the  country?  Are  they 
trying  to  put  hope  into  the  hearts  of  the  men  who  work 
and  toil  every  day,  or  are  they  trying  to  plant  discour 
agement  and  despair  in  those  hearts  ?  And  why  do  they 
cry  that  everything  is  wrong  and  yet  do  nothing  to  set 
it  right?  If  they  love  America  and  anything  is  wrong 
amongst  us,  it  is  their  business  to  put  their  hand  with 


58  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

ours  to  the  task  of  setting  it  right.  When  the  facts  are 
known  and  acknowledged,  the  duty  of  all  patriotic  men 
is  to  accept  them  in  candor  and  to  address  themselves 
hopefully  and  confidently  to  the  common  counsel  which 
is  necessary  to  act  upon  them  wisely  and  in  universal 
concert. 

I  have  had  some  experiences  in  the  last  14  months 
which  have  not  been  entirely  reassuring.  It  was  uni 
versally  admitted,  for  example,  my  fellow  citizens,  that 
the  banking  system  of  this  country  needed  reorganiza 
tion.  We  set  the  best  minds  that  we  could  find  to  the 
task  of  discovering  the  best  method  of  reorganization. 
But  we  met  with  hardly  anything  but  criticism  from  the 
bankers  of  the  country;  we  met  with  hardly  anything 
but  resistance  from  the  majority  of  those  at  least  who 
spoke  at  all  concerning  the  matter.  And  yet  so  soon  as 
that  act  was  passed  there  was  a  universal  chorus  of 
applause,  and  the  very  men  who  had  opposed  the  meas 
ure  joined  in  that  applause.  If  it  was  wrong  the  day 
before  it  was  passed,  why  was  it  right  the  day  after  it 
was  passed?  Where  had  been  the  candor  of  criticism 
not  only,  but  the  concert  of  counsel  which  makes  legis 
lative  action  vigorous  and  safe  and  successful? 

It  is  not  patriotic  to  concert  measures  against  one 
another;  it  is  patriotic  to  concert  measures  for  one 
another. 

In  one  sense  the  Declaration  of  Independence  has 
lost  its  significance.  It  has  lost  its  significance  as  a 
declaration  of  national  independence.  Nobody  outside 
of  America  believed  when  it  was  uttered  that  we  could 
make  good  our  independence;  now  nobody  anywhere 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  59 

would  dare  to  doubt  that  we  are  independent  and  can 
maintain  our  independence.  As  a  declaration  of  inde 
pendence,  therefore,  it  is  a  mere  historic  document.  Our 
independence  is  a  fact  so  stupendous  that  it  can  be 
measured  only  by  the  size  and  energy  and  variety  and 
wealth  and  power  of  one  of  the  greatest  nations  in  the 
world.  But  it  is  one  thing  to  be  independent  and  it  is 
another  thing  to  know  what  to  do  with  your  independ 
ence.  It  is  one  thing  to  come  to  your  majority  and 
another  thing  to  know  what  you  are  going  to  do  with 
your  lif e  and  your  energies ;  and  one  of  the  most  serious 
questions  for  sober-minded  men  to  address  themselves 
to  in  the  United  States  is  this:  What  are  we  going  to 
do  with  the  influence  and  power  of  this  great  Nation? 
Are  we  going  to  play  the  old  role  of  using  that  power 
for  our  aggrandizement  and  material  benefit  only  ?  You 
know  what  that  may  mean.  It  may  upon  occasion  mean 
that  we  shall  use  it  to  make  the  peoples  of  other  nations 
suffer  in  the  way  in  which  we  said  it  was  intolerable  to 
suffer  when  we  uttered  our  Declaration  of  Independence. 
The  Department  of  State  at  Washington  is  constantly 
called  upon  to  back  up  the  commercial  enterprises  and 
the  industrial  enterprises  of  the  United  States  in  foreign 
countries,  and  it  at  one  time  went  so  far  in  that  direc 
tion  that  all  its  diplomacy  came  to  be  designated  as 
" dollar  diplomacy."  It  was  called  upon  to  support 
every  man  who  wanted  to  earn  anything  anywhere  if  he 
was  an  American.  But  there  ought  to  be  a  limit  to  that. 
There  is  no  man  who  is  more  interested  than  I  am  in 
carrying  the  enterprise  of  American  business  men  to 
every  quarter  of  the  globe.  I  was  interested  in  it  long 


60  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

before  I  was  suspected  of  being  a  politician.  I  have 
been  preaching  it  year  after  year  as  the  great  thing  that 
lay  in  the  future  for  the  United  States,  to  show  her  wit 
and  skill  and  enterprise  and  influence  in  every  country 
in  the  world.  But  observe  the  limit  to  all  that  which  is 
laid  upon  us  perhaps  more  than  upon  any  other  nation 
in  the  world.  We  set  this  Nation  up,  at  any  rate  we 
professed  to  set  it  up,  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  men. 
We  did  not  name  any  differences  between  one  race  and 
another.  We  did  not  set  up  any  barriers  against  any 
particular  people.  We  opened  our  gates  to  all  the  world 
and  said,  "Let  all  men  who  wish  to  be  free  come  to  us 
and  they  will  be  welcome. "  We  said,  "This  independ 
ence  of  ours  is  not  a  selfish  thing  for  our  own  exclusive 
private  use.  It  is  for  everybody  to  whom  we  can  find 
the  means  of  extending  it."  We  cannot  with  that  oath 
taken  in  our  youth,  we  cannot  with  that  great  ideal  set 
before  us  when  we  were  a  young  people  and  numbered 
only  a  scant  3,000,000,  take  upon  ourselves,  now  that  we 
are  100,000,000  strong,  any  other  conception  of  duty 
than  we  then  entertained.  If  American  enterprise  in 
foreign  countries,  particularly  in  those  foreign  countries 
which  are  not  strong  enough  to  resist  us,  takes  the  shape 
of  imposing  upon  and  exploiting  the  mass  of  the  people 
of  that  country  it  ought  to  be  checked  and  not  encour 
aged.  I  am  willing  to  get  anything  for  an  American 
that  money  and  enterprise  can  obtain  except  the  sup 
pression  of  the  rights  of  other  men.  I  will  not  help  any 
man  buy  a  power  which  he  ought  not  to  exercise  over 
his  fellow  beings. 

You  know,  my  fellow  countrymen,  what  a  big  ques- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  61 

tion  there  is  in  Mexico.  Eighty-five  per  cent  of  the 
Mexican  people  have  never  been  allowed  to  have  any 
genuine  participation  in  their  own  Government  or  to 
exercise  any  substantial  rights  with  regard  to  the  very 
land  they  live  upon.  All  the  rights  that  men  most 
desire  have  been  exercised  by  the  other  15  per  cent. 
Do  you  suppose  that  that  circumstance  is  not  sometimes 
in  my  thought  ?  I  know  that  the  American  people  have 
a  heart  that  will  beat  just  as  strong  for  those  millions 
in  Mexico  as  it  will  beat,  or  has  beaten,  for  any  other 
millions  elsewhere  in  the  world,  and  that  when  once 
they  conceive  what  is  at  stake  in  Mexico  they  will  know 
what  ought  to  be  done  in  Mexico.  I  hear  a  great  deal 
said  about  the  loss  of  property  in  Mexico  and  the  loss 
of  the  lives  of  foreigners,  and  I  deplore  these  things 
with  all  my  heart.  Undoubtedly,  upon  the  conclusion 
of  the  present  disturbed  conditions  in  Mexico  those  who 
have  been  unjustly  deprived  of  their  property  or  in 
any  wise  unjustly  put  upon  ought  to  be  compensated. 
Men's  individual  rights  have  no  doubt  been  invaded, 
and  the  invasion  of  those  rights  has  been  attended  by 
many  deplorable  circumstances  which  ought  some  time, 
in  the  proper  way,  to  be  accounted  for.  But  back  of 
it  all  is  the  struggle  of  a  people  to  come  into  its  own, 
and  while  we  look  upon  the  incidents  in  the  foreground 
let  us  not  forget  the  great  tragic  reality  in  the  back 
ground  which  towers  above  the  whole  picture. 

A  patriotic  American  is  a  man  who  is  not  niggardly 
and  selfish  in  the  things  that  he  enjoys  that  make  for 
human  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man.  He  wants  to  share 
them  with  the  whole  world,  and  he  is  never  so  proud  of 


62  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  great  flag  under  which  he  lives  as  when  it  comes  to 
mean  to  other  people  as  well  as  to  himself  a  symbol  of 
hope  and  liberty.  I  would  be  ashamed  of  this  flag  if  it 
ever  did  anything  outside  America  that  we  would  not 
permit  it  to  do  inside  of  America. 

The  world  is  becoming  more  complicated  every  day, 
my  fellow  citizens.  No  man  ought  to  be  foolish  enough 
to  think  that  he  understands  it  all.  And,  therefore,  I 
am  glad  that  there  are  some  simple  things  in  the  world. 
One  of  the  simple  things  is  principle.  Honesty  is  a  per 
fectly  simple  thing.  It  is  hard  for  me  to  believe  that 
in  most  circumstances  when  a  man  has  a  choice  of  ways 
he  does  not  know  which  is  the  right  way  and  which  is 
the  wrong  way.  No  man  who  has  chosen  the  wrong 
way  ought  even  to  come  into  Independence  Square ;  it  is 
holy  ground  which  he  ought  not  to  tread  upon.  He 
ought  not  to  come  where  immortal  voices  have  uttered 
the  great  sentences  of  such  a  document  as  this  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  upon  which  rests  the  liberty  of  a 
whole  nation. 

And  so  I  say  that  it  is  patriotic  sometimes  to  prefer 
the  honor  of  the  country  to  its  material  interest.  Would 
you  rather  be  deemed  by  all  the  nations  of  the  world 
incapable  of  keeping  your  treaty  obligations  in  order 
that  you  might  have  free  tolls  for  American  ships  ?  The 
treaty  under  which  we  gave  up  that  right  may  have  been 
a  mistaken  treaty,  but  there  was  no  mistake  about  its 
meaning. 

When  I  have  made  a  promise  as  a  man  I  try  to  keep 
it,  and  I  know  of  no  other  rule  permissible  to  a  nation. 
The  most  distinguished  nation  in  the  world  is  the  nation 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  63 

that  can  and  will  keep  its  promises  even  to  its  own  hurt. 
And  I  want  to  say  parenthetically  that  I  do  not  think 
anybody  was  hurt.  I  cannot  be  enthusiastic  for  subsi 
dies  to  a  monopoly,  but  let  those  who  are  enthusiastic 
for  subsidies  ask  themselves  whether  they  prefer  subsi 
dies  to  unsullied  honor. 

The  most  patriotic  man,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is 
sometimes  the  man  who  goes  in  the  direction  that  he 
thinks  right  even  when  he  sees  half  the  world  against 
him.  It  is  the  dictate  of  patriotism  to  sacrifice  your 
self  if  you  think  that  that  is  the  path  of  honor  and  of 
duty.  Do  not  blame  others  if  they  do  not  agree  with 
you.  Do  not  die  with  bitterness  in  your  heart  because 
you  did  not  convince  the  rest  of  the  world,  but  die  happy 
because  you  believe  that  you  tried  to  serve  your  country 
by  not  selling  your  soul.  Those  were  grim  days,  the  days 
of  1776.  Those  gentlemen  did  not  attach  their  names 
to  the  Declaration  of  Independence  on  this  table  expect 
ing  a  holiday  on  the  next  day,  and  that  4th  of  July  was 
not  itself  a  holiday.  They  attached  their  signatures  to 
that  significant  document  knowing  that  if  they  failed  it 
was  certain  that  every  one  of  them  would  hang  for  the 
failure.  They  were  committing  treason  in  the  interest 
of  the  liberty  of  3,000,000  people  in  America.  All  the 
rest  of  the  world  was  against  them  and  smiled  with 
cynical  incredulity  at  the  audacious  undertaking.  Do 
you  think  that  if  they  could  see  this  great  Nation  now 
they  would  regret  anything  that  they  then  did  to  draw 
the  gaze  of  a  hostile  world  upon  them  ?  Every  idea  must 
be  started  by  somebody,  and  it  is  a  lonely  thing  to  start 
anything.  Yet  if  it  is  in  you,  you  must  start  it  if  you- 


64  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

have  a  man's  blood  in  you  and  if  you  love  the  country 
that  you  profess  to  be  working  for. 

I  am  sometimes  very  much  interested  when  I  see 
gentlemen  supposing  that  popularity  is  the  way  to  suc 
cess  in  America.  The  way  to  success  in  this  great  coun 
try,  with  its  fair  judgments,  is  to  show  that  you  are  not 
afraid  of  anybody  except  God  and  His  final  verdict.  If 
^  I  did  not  believe  that,  I  would  not  believe  in  democracy. 
If  I  did  not  believe  that,  I  would  not  believe  that  people 
can  govern  themselves.  If  I  did  not  believe  that  the 
moral  judgment  would  be  the  last  judgment,  the  final 
judgment,  in  the  minds  of  men  as  well  as  the  tribunal 
j)f  God,  I  could  not  believe  in  popular  government.  But 
I  do  believe  these  things,  and,  therefore,  I  earnestly 
believe  in  the  democracy  not  only  of  America  but  of 
every  awakened  people  that  wishes  and  intends  to  gov 
ern  and  control  its  own  affairs. 

It  is  very  inspiring,  my  friends,  to  come  to  this  that 
may  be  called  the  original  fountain  of  independence  and 
liberty  in  America  and  here  drink  draughts  of  patriotic 
feeling  which  seem  to  renew  the  very  blood  in  one's 
veins.  Down  in  Washington  sometimes  when  the  days 
are  hot  and  the  business  presses  intolerably  and  there 
are  so  many  things  to  do  that  it  does  not  seem  possible 
to  do  anything  in  the  way  it  ought  to  be  done,  it  is 
always  possible  to  lift  one's  thought  above  the  task  of  the 
moment  and,  as  it  were,  to  realize  that  great  thing  of 
which  we  are  all  parts,  the  great  body  of  American  feel 
ing  and  American  principle.  No  man  could  do  the  work 
that  has  to  be  done  in  Washington  if  he  allowed  him 
self  to  be  separated  from  that  body  of  principle.  He 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  65 

must  make  himself  feel  that  he  is  a  part  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  that  he  is  trying  to  think  not  only 
for  them,  but  with  them,  and  then  he  cannot  feel  lonely. 
He  not  only  cannot  feel  lonely  but  he  cannot  feel  afraid 
of  anything. 

My  dream  is  that  as  the  years  go  on  and  the  world  ^ 
knows  more  and  more  of  America  it  will  also  drink  at 
these  fountains  of  youth  and  renewal;  that  it  also  will 
turn  to  America  for  those  moral  inspirations  which  lie 
at  the  basis  of  all  freedom;  that  the  world  will  never 
fear  America  unless  it  feels  that  it  is  engaged  in  some 
enterprise  which  is  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of 
humanity;  and  that  America  will  come  into  the  full 
light  of  the  day  when  all  shall  know  that  she  puts 
human  rights  above  all  other  rights  and  that  her  flag 
is  the  flag  not  only  of  America  but  of  humanity. 

What  other  great  people  has  devoted  itself  to  this 
exalted  ideal?  To  what  other  nation  in  the  world  can 
all  eyes  look  for  an  instant  sympathy  that  thrills  the 
whole  body  politic  when  men  anywhere  are  fighting  for 
their  rights?  I  do  not  know  that  there  will  ever  be  a 
declaration  of  independence  and  of  grievances  for  man 
kind,  but  I  believe  that  if  any  such  document  is  ever 
drawn  it  will  be  drawn  in  the  spirit  of  the  American 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  that  America  has 
lifted  high  the  light  which  will  shine  unto  all  genera 
tions  and  guide  the  feet  of  mankind  to  the  goal  of  jus 
tice  and  liberty  and  peace. 


AMERICAN  NEUTRALITY 

AN    APPEAL    TO    THE    CITIZENS    OF    THE 
REPUBLIC,      REQUESTING      THEIR      AS 
SISTANCE  IN  MAINTAINING  A  STATE 
OF    NEUTRALITY    DURING     THE 
PRESENT      EUROPEAN     WAR, 
AUGUST  18,  1914 

In  the  manual  entitled  Kriegsbrauch  im  Landkriege,1  issued  in  1902  by  the 
Great  General  Staff  of  the  German  Army,  the  nature  of  neutrality  is  thus 
stated :  "  It  is  here  assumed  that  neutrality  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  synonymous 
with  indifference  and  impartiality  toward  the  belligerents  and  the  continuance 
of  the  war.  As  regards  the  expression  of  partisanship  all  that  is  required  of 
neutral  States  is  the  observance  of  international  courtesy;  so  long  as  these  are 
observed,  there  is  no  occasion  for  interference."  President  Wilson's  conception 
of  neutrality,  as  laid  down  in  the  following  appeal,  was  something  more  than 
impartiality  based  upon  an  observance  of  international  courtesies.  It  was  neu 
trality  in  thought,  in  word,  in  deed,  which  he  besought  his  countrymen  to  observe. 

MY  FELLOW  COUNTRYMEN: 

I  suppose  that  every  thoughtful  man  in  America  has 
asked  himself,  during  these  last  troubled  weeks,  what 
influence  the  European  war  may  exert  upon  the  United 
States,  and  I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  a  few  words 
to  you  in  order  to  point  out  that  it  is  entirely  within 
our  own  choice  what  its  effects  upon  us  will  be  and  to 
urge  very  earnestly  upon  you  the  sort  of  speech  and  con 
duct  which  will  best  safeguard  the  Nation  against  dis 
tress  and  disaster. 

The  effect  of  the  war  upon  the  United  States  will 
depend  upon  what  American  citizens  say  and  do.  Every 
man  who  really  loves  America  will  act  and  speak  in  the 

1  Translated  by  J.  H.  Morgan  under  the  title  The  War  Book  of  the  German 
General  Staff  (New  York,  1915). 

66 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  67 

true  spirit  of  neutrality,  which  is  the  spirit  of  impar 
tiality  and  fairness  and  friendliness  to  all  concerned. 
The  spirit  of  the  Nation  in  this  critical  matter  will 
be  determined  largely  by  what  individuals  and  society 
and  those  gathered  in  public  meetings  do  and  say,  upon 
what  newspapers  and  magazines  contain,  upon  what 
ministers  utter  in  their  pulpits,  and  men  proclaim  as 
their  opinions  on  the  street. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  drawn  from 
many  nations,  and  chiefly  from  the  nations  now  at  war. 
It  is  natural  and  "inevitable  that  there  should  be  the 
utmost  variety  of  sympathy  and  desire  among  them 
with  regard  to  the  issues  and  circumstances  of  the  con 
flict.  Some  will  wish  one  nation,  others  another,  to 
succeed  in  the  momentous  struggle.  It  will  be  easy  to 
excite  passion  and  difficult  to  allay  it.  Those  respon 
sible  for  exciting  it  will  assume  a  heavy  responsibility, 
responsibility  for  no  less  a  thing  than  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  whose  love  of  their  country  and 
whose  loyalty  to  its  Government  should  unite  them  as 
Americans  all,  bound  in  honor  and  affection  to  think 
first  of  her  and  her  interests,  may  be  divided  in  camps 
of  hostile  opinion,  hot  against  each  other,  involved  in 
the  war  itself  in  impulse  and  opinion  if  not  in  action. 

Such  divisions  among  us  would  be  fatal  to  our  peace 
of  mind  and  might  seriously  stand  in  the  way  of  the 
proper  performance  of  our  duty  as  the  one  great  nation 
at  peace,  the  one  people  holding  itself  ready  to  play  a 
part  of  impartial  mediation  and  speak  the  counsels  of 
peace  and  accommodation,  not  as  a  partisan,  but  as  a 
friend. 


68  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

I  venture,  therefore,  my  fellow  countrymen,  to  speak 
a  solemn  word  of  warning  to  you  against  that  deepest, 
most  subtle,  most  essential  breach  of  neutrality  which 
may  spring  out  of  partisanship,  out  of  passionately  tak 
ing  sides.  The  United  States  must  be  neutral  in  fact  as 
well  as  in  name  during  these  days  that  are  to  try  men's 
souls.  We  must  be  impartial  in  thought  as  well  as  in 
action,  must  put  a  curb  upon  our  sentiments  as  well  as 
upon  every  transaction  that  might  be  construed  as  a 
preference  of  one  party  to  the  struggle  before  another. 

My  thought  is  of  America.  I  am  speaking,  I  feel 
sure,  the  earnest  wish  and  purpose  of  every  thoughtful 
American  that  this  great  country  of  ours,  which  is,  of 
course,  the  first  in  our  thoughts  and  in  our  hearts,  should 
show  herself  in  this  time  of  peculiar  trial  a  Nation  fit 
beyond  others  to  exhibit  the  fine  poise  of  undisturbed 
judgment,  the  dignity  of  self-control,  the  efficiency  of 
dispassionate  action;  a  Nation  that  neither  sits  in  judg 
ment  upon  others  nor  is  disturbed  in  her  own  counsels 
and  which  keeps  herself  fit  and  free  to  do  what  is  honest 
and  disinterested  and  truly  serviceable  for  the  peace  of 
the  world. 

Shall  we  not  resolve  to  put  upon  ourselves  the  re 
straints  which  will  bring  to  our  people  the  happiness 
and  the  great  and  lasting  influence  for  peace  we  covet 
for  them? 


PUBLIC     OPINION     AND     INTERNATIONAL 

LAW 

ADDRESS     BEFORE     THE     AMERICAN     BAR 

ASSOCIATION,   CONTINENTAL   HALL, 

WASHINGTON,  OCTOBER  20,  1914  x 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BAB 
ASSOCIATION  : 

I  am  very  deeply  gratified  by  the  greeting  that  your 
president  has  given  me  and  by  your  response  to  it.  My 
only  strength  lies  in  your  confidence. 

We  stand  now  in  a  peculiar  case.  Our  first  thought, 
I  suppose,  as  lawyers,  is  of  international  law,  of  those 
bonds  of  right  and  principle  which  draw  the  nations 
together  and  hold  the  community  of  the  world  to  some 
standards  of  action.  We  know  that  we  see  in  inter 
national  law,  as  it  were,  the  moral  processes  by  which 
law  itself  came  into  existence.  I  know  that  as  a  lawyer 
I  have  myself  at  times  felt  that  there  was  no  real  com 
parison  between  the  law  of  a  nation  and  the  law  of 
nations,  because  the  latter  lacked  the  sanction  that  gave 
the  former  strength  and  validity.  And  yet,  if  you  look 
into  the  matter  more  closely,  you  will  find  that  the  two 
have  the  same  foundations,  and  that  those  foundations 
are  more  evident  and  conspicuous  in  our  day  than  they 
have  ever  been  before. 

1  Only  that  part  of  the  address  is  given  which  concerns  public  opinion  and 
international  relations. 


70  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  opinion  of  the  world  is  the  mistress  of  the 
world;  and  the  processes  of  international  law  are  the 
slow  processes  by  which  opinion  works  its  will.  What 
impresses  me  is  the  constant  thought  that  that  is  the 
tribunal  at  the  bar  of  which  we  all  sit.  I  would  call 
your  attention,  incidentally,  to  the  circumstance  that  it 
does  not  observe  the  ordinary  rules  of  evidence;  which 
has  sometimes  suggested  to  me  that  the  ordinary  rules 
of  evidence  had  shown  some  signs  of  growing  antique. 
Everything,  rumor  included,  is  heard  in  this  court,  and 
the  standard  of  judgment  is  not  so  much  the  character 
of  the  testimony  as  the  character  of  the  witness.  The 
motives  are  disclosed,  the  purposes  are  conjectured,  and 
that  opinion  is  finally  accepted  which  seems  to  be,  not 
the  best  founded  in  law,  perhaps,  but  the  best  founded 
in  integrity  6f  character  and  of  morals.  That  is  the 
process  which;  is  slowly  working  its  will  upon  the  world ; 
and  what  we  should  be  watchful  of  is  not  so  much 
jealous  interests  as  sound  principles  of  action.  The  dis 
interested  course  is  always  the  biggest  course  to  pursue 
not  only,  but  it  is  in  the  long  run  the  most  profitable 
course  to  pursue.  If  you  can  establish  your  character, 
you  can  establish  your  credit.  .  .  . 


SECOND  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  TO 
CONGRESS,  DECEMBER  8,  1914  l 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS  : 

The  session  upon  which  you  are  now  entering  will  be 
the  closing  session  of  the  Sixty-third  Congress,  a  Con 
gress,  I  venture  to  say,  which  will  long  be  remembered 
for  the  great  body  of  thoughtful  and  constructive  work 
which  it  has  done,  in  loyal  response  to  the  thought  and 
needs  of  the  country.  I  should  like  in  this  address  to 
review  the  notable  record  and  try  to  make  adequate 
assessment  of  it;  but  no  doubt  we  stand  too  near 
the  work  that  has  been  done  and  are  ourselves 
too  much  part  of  it  to  play  the  part  of  historians 
toward  it. 

Our  program  of  legislation  with  regard  to  the  regu 
lation  of  business  is  now  virtually  complete.  It  has 
been  put  forth,  as  we  intended,  as  a  whole,  and  leaves 
no  conjecture  as  to  what  is  to  follow.  The  road  at  last 
lies  clear  and  firm  before  business.  It  is  a  road  which 
it  can  travel  without  fear  or  embarrassment.  It  is  the 
road  to  ungrudged,  unclouded  success.  In  it  every 
honest  man,  every  man  who  believes  that  the  public 
interest  is  part  of  his  own  interest,  may  walk  with 
perfect  confidence. 

Moreover,  our  thoughts  are  now  more  of  the  future 
than  of  the  past.  While  we  have  worked  at  our  tasks 

1  Only  that  part  of  the  address  is  given  which  concerns  international 
relations. 

71 


72  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

of  peace  the  circumstances  of  the  whole  age  have  been 
altered  by  war.  What  we  have  done  for  our  own  land 
and  our  own  people  we  did  with  the  best  that  was  in 
us,  whether  of  character  or  of  intelligence,  with  sober 
enthusiasm  and  a  confidence  in  the  principles  upon 
which  we  were  acting  which  sustained  us  at  every  step 
of  the  difficult  undertaking;  but  it  is  done.  It  has 
passed  from  our  hands.  It  is  now  an  established  part 
of  the  legislation  of  the  country.  Its  usefulness,  its 
effects  will  disclose  themselves  in  experience.  What 
chiefly  strikes  us  now,  as  we  look  about  us  during  these 
closing  days  of  a  year  which  will  be  forever  memorable 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  is  that  we  face  new  tasks, 
have  been  facing  them  these  six  months,  must  face  them 
in  the  months  to  come, — face  them  without  partisan 
feeling,  like  men  who  have  forgotten  everything  but 
a  common  duty  and  the  fact  that  we  are  representatives 
of  a  great  people  whose  thought  is  not  of  us  but  of 
what  America  owes  to  herself  and  to  all  mankind  in 
such  circumstances  as  these  upon  which  we  look  amazed 
and  anxious. 

War  has  interrupted  the  means  of  trade  not  only  but 
also  the  processes  of  production.  In  Europe  it  is  de 
stroying  men  and  resources  wholesale  and  upon  a  scale 
unprecedented  and  appalling.  There  is  reason  to  fear 
that  the  time  is  near,  if  it  be  not  already  at  hand,  when 
several  of  the  countries  of  Europe  will  find  it  difficult 
to  do  for  their  people  what  they  have  hitherto  been 
always  easily  able  to  do, — many  essential  and  funda 
mental  things.  At  any  rate,  they  will  need  our  help 
and  our  manifold  services  as  they  have  never  needed 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  73 

them  before;  and  we  should  be  ready,  more  fit  and 
ready  than  we  have  ever  been. 

It  is  of  equal  consequence  that  the  nations  whom 
Europe  has  usually  supplied  with  innumerable  articles 
of  manufacture  and  commerce  of  which  they  are  in 
constant  need  and  without  which  their  economic  de 
velopment  halts  and  stands  still  can  now  get  only  a 
small  part  of  what  they  formerly  imported  and  eagerly 
look  to  us  to  supply  their  all  but  empty  markets.  This 
is  particularly  true  of  our  own  neighbors,  the  States, 
great  and  small,  of  Central  and  South  America.  Their 
lines  of  trade  have  hitherto  run  chiefly  athwart  the  seas, 
not  to  our  ports  but  to  the  ports  of  Great  Britain  and 
of  the  older  continent  of  Europe.  I  do  not  stop  to  in 
quire  why,  or  to  make  any  comment  on  probable  causes. 
What  interests  us  just  now  is  not  the  explanation  but 
the  fact,  and  our  duty  and  opportunity  in  the  presence 
of  it.  Here  are  markets  which  we  must  supply,  and  we 
must  find  the  means  of  action.  The  United  States,  this 
great  people  for  whom  we  speak  and  act,  should  be 
ready,  as  never  before,  to  serve  itself  and  to  serve  man 
kind;  ready  with  its  resources,  its  energies,  its  forces 
of  production,  and  its  means  of  distribution. 

It  is  a  very  practical  matter,  a  matter  of  ways  and 
means.  We  have  the  resources,  but  are  we  fully  ready 
to  use  them  ?  And,  if  we  can  make  ready  what  we  have, 
have  we  the  means  at  hand  to  distribute  it?  We  are 
not  fully  ready;  neither  have  we  the  means  of  distribu 
tion.  We  are  willing,  but  we  are  not  fully  able.  We 
have  the  wish  to  serve  and  to  serve  greatly,  generously; 
but  we  are  not  prepared  as  we  should  be.  We  are  not 


74  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

ready  to  mobilize  our  resources  at  once.  We  are  not 
prepared  to  use  them  immediately  and  at  their  best, 
without  delay  and  without  waste. 

To  speak  plainly,  we  have  grossly  erred  in  the  way 
in  which  we  have  stunted  and  hindered  the  develop 
ment  of  our  merchant  marine.  And  now,  when  we 
need  ships,  we  have  not  got  them.  We  have  year  after 
year  debated,  without  end  or  conclusion,  the  best  policy 
to  pursue  with  regard  to  the  use  of  the  ores  and  forests 
and  water  powers  of  our  national  domain  in  the  rich 
States  of  the  West,  when  we  should  have  acted;  and 
they  are  still  locked  up.  The  key  is  still  turned  upon 
them,  the  door  shut  fast  at  which  thousands  of  vigorous 
men,  full  of  initiative,  knock  clamorously  for  admit 
tance.  The  water  power  of  our  navigable  streams  out 
side  the  national  domain  also,  even  in  the  eastern  States, 
where  we  have  worked  and  planned  for  generations,  is 
still  not  used  as  it  might  be,  because  we  will  and  we 
won't;  because  the  laws  we  have  made  do  not  intelli 
gently  balance  encouragement  against  restraint.  We 
withhold  by  regulation. 

I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  remedy  and  correct  these 
mistakes  and  omissions,  even  at  this  short  session  of 
a  Congress  which  would  certainly  seem  to  have  done 
all  the  work  that  could  reasonably  be  expected  of  it. 
The  time  and  the  circumstances  are  extraordinary,  and 
so  must  our  efforts  be  also. 

Fortunately,  two  great  measures,  finely  conceived, 
the  one  to  unlock,  with  proper  safeguards,  the  resources 
of  the  national  domain,  the  other  to  encourage  the  use 
of  the  navigable  waters  outside  that  domain  for  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  75 

generation  of  power,  have  already  passed  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives  and  are  ready  for  immediate  con 
sideration  and  action  by  the  Senate.  With  the  deepest 
earnestness  I  urge  their  prompt  passage.  In  them 
both  we  turn  our  backs  upon  hesitation  and  makeshift 
and  formulate  a  genuine  policy  of  use  and  conserva 
tion,  in  the  best  sense  of  those  words.  We  owe  the 
one  measure  not  only  to  the  people  of  that  great  western 
country  for  whose  free  and  systematic  development,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  our  legislation  has  done  so  little,  but 
also  to  the  people  of  the  Nation  as  a  whole ;  and  we  as 
clearly  owe  the  other  in  fulfillment  of  our  repeated 
promises  that  the  water  power  of  the  country  should 
in  fact  as  well  as  in  name  be  put  at  the  disposal  of 
great  industries  which  can  make  economical  and  profit 
able  use  of  it,  the  rights  of  the  public  being  adequately 
guarded  the  while,  and  monopoly  in  the  use  prevented. 
To  have  begun  such  measures  and  not  completed  them 
would  indeed  mar  the  record  of  this  great  Congress 
very  seriously.  I  hope  and  confidently  believe  that 
they  will  be  completed. 

And  there  is  another  great  piece  of  legislation  which 
awaits  and  should  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Senate: 
I  mean  the  bill  which  gives  a  larger  measure  of  self-  \ 
government  to  the  people  of  the  Philippines.  How 
better,  in  this  time  of  anxious  questioning  and  per 
plexed  policy,  could  we  show  our  confidence  in  the 
principles  of  liberty,  as  the  source  as  well  as  the  ex 
pression  of  life,  how  better  could  we  demonstrate  our 
own  self-possession  and  steadfastness  in  the  courses 
of  justice  and  disinterestedness  than  by  thus  going 


76  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

calmly  forward  to  fulfill  our  promises  to  a  dependent 
people,  who  will  now  look  more  anxiously  than  ever 
to  see  whether  we  have  indeed  the  liberality,  the  un 
selfishness,  the  courage,  the  faith  we  have  boasted  and 
professed?  I  cannot  believe  that  the  Senate  will  let 
this  great  measure  of  constructive  justice  await  the 
action  of  another  Congress.  Its  passage  would  nobly 
crown  the  record  of  these  two  years  of  memorable 
labor. 

But  I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that  this 
does  not  complete  the  toll  of  our  duty.  How  are  we 
to  carry  our  goods  to  the  empty  markets  of  which  I 
have  spoken  if  we  have  not  the  ships?  How  are  we 
to  build  up  a  great  trade  if  we  have  not  the  certain 
and  constant  means  of  transportation  upon  which  all 
profitable  and  useful  commerce  depends?  And  how 
are  we  to  get  the  ships  if  we  wait  for  the  trade  to 
develop  without  them?  To  correct  the  many  mistakes 
by  which  we  have  discouraged  and  all  but  destroyed 
the  merchant  marine  of  the  country,  to  retrace  the 
steps  by  which  we  have,  it  seems  almost  deliberately, 
withdrawn  our  flag  from  the  seas,  except  where,  here 
and  there,  a  ship  of  war  is  bidden  carry  it  or  some 
wandering  yacht  displays  it,  would  take  a  long  time 
and  involve  many  detailed  items  of  legislation,  and  the 
trade  which  we  ought  immediately  to  handle  would 
disappear  or  find  other  channels  while  we  debated  the 
items. 

The  case  is  not  unlike  that  which  confronted  us 
when  our  own  continent  was  to  be  opened  up  to  settle 
ment  and  industry,  and  we  needed  long  lines  of  rail- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  77 

way,  extended  means  of  transportation  prepared  before 
hand,  if  development  was  not  to  lag  intolerably  and 
wait  interminably.  We  lavishly  subsidized  the  build 
ing  of  transcontinental  railroads.  We  look  back  upon 
that  with  regret  now,  because  the  subsidies  led  to  many 
scandals  of  which  we  are  ashamed;  but  we  know  that 
the  railroads  had  to  be  built,  and  if  we  had  it  to  do 
over  again  we  should  of  course  build  them,  but  in  an 
other  way.  Therefore  I  propose  another  way  of  pro 
viding  the  means  of  transportation,  which  must  precede, 
not  tardily  follow,  the  development  of  our  trade  with 
our  neighbor  states  of  America.  It  may  seem  a  reversal 
of  the  natural  order  of  things,  but  it  is  true,  that  the 
routes  of  trade  must  be  actually  opened — by  many 
ships  and  regular  sailings  and  moderate  charges — be 
fore  streams  of  merchandise  will  flow  freely  and  profit 
ably  through  them. 

Hence  the  pending  shipping  bill,  discussed  at  the 
last  session  but  as  yet  passed  by  neither  House.  In 
my  judgment  such  legislation  is  imperatively  needed 
and  can  not  wisely  be  postponed.  The  Government 
must  open  these  gates  of  trade,  and  open  them  wide; 
open  them  before  it  is  altogether  profitable  to  open 
them,  or  altogether  reasonable  to  ask  private  capital 
to  open  them  at  a  venture.  It  is  not  a  question  of 
the  Government  monopolizing  the  field.  It  should  take 
action  to  make  it  certain  that  transportation  at  reason 
able  rates  will  be  promptly  provided,  even  where  the 
carriage  is  not  at  first  profitable;  and  then,  when  the 
carriage  has  become  sufficiently  profitable  to  attract 
and  engage  private  capital,  and  engage  it  in  abundance, 


78  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  Government  ought  to  withdraw.    I  very  earnestly  • 
hope  that  the  Congress  will  be  of  this  opinion,  and  that 
both   Houses   will    adopt   this    exceedingly    important 
bill.  .    .    . 

The  other  topic  I  shall  take  leave  to  mention  goes 
deeper  into  the  principles  of  our  national  life  and 
policy.  It  is  the  subject  of  national  defense. 

It  cannot  be  discussed  without  first  answering  some 
very  searching  questions.  It  is  said  in  some  quarters 
that  we  are  not  prepared  for  war.  What  is  meant 
by  being  prepared?  Is  it  meant  that  we  are  not 
ready  upon  brief  notice  to  put  a  nation  in  the  field, 
a  nation  of  men  trained  to  arms?  Of  course  we  are 
not  ready  to  do  that;  and  we  shall  never  be  in  time 
of  peace  so  long  as  we  retain  our  present  political 
principles  and  institutions.  And  what  is  it  that  it  is 
suggested  we  should  be  prepared  to  do?  To  defend 
ourselves  against  attack  ?  We  have  always  found  means 
to  do  that,  and  shall  find  them  whenever  it  is  necessary 
without  calling  our  people  away  from  their  necessary 
tasks  to  render  compulsory  military  service  in  times 
of  peace. 

Allow  me  to  speak  with  great  plainness  and  direct 
ness  upon  this  great  matter  and  to  avow  my  convictions 
with  deep  earnestness.  I  have  tried  to  kno^  what 
America  is,  what  her  people  think,  what  they  are,  what 
they  most  cherish  and  hold  dear.  I  hope  that  some 
of  their  finer  passions  are  in  my  own  heart, — some  of 
the  great  conceptions  and  desires  which  gave  birth  to 
this  Government  and  which  have  made  the  voice  of 
this  people  a  voice  of  peace  and  hope  and  liberty 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  79 

among  the  peoples  of  the  world,  and  that,  speaking 
my  own  thoughts,  I  shall,  at  least  in  part,  speak  theirs 
also,  however  faintly  and  inadequately,  upon  this  vital 
matter. 

We  are  at  peace  with  all  the  world.  No  one  who 
speaks  counsel  based  on  fact  or  drawn  from  a  just 
and  candid  interpretation  of  realities  can  say  that  there 
is  reason  to  fear  that  fiom  any  quarter  our  inde 
pendence  or  the  integrity  of  our  territory  is  threatened. 
Dread  of  the  power  of  any  other  nation  we  are  in 
capable  of.  We  are  not  jealous  of  rivalry  in  the  fields 
of  commerce  or  of  any  other  peaceful  achievement. 
We  mean  to  live  our  own  lives  as  we  will;  but  we 
mean  also  to  let  live.  We  are,  indeed,  a  true  friend 
to  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  because  we  threaten 
none,  covet  the  possessions  of  none,  desire  the  over 
throw  of  none.  Our  friendship  can  be  accepted  and 
is  accepted  without  reservation,  because  it  is  offered 
in  a  spirit  and  for  a  purpose  which  no  one  need  ever 
question  or  suspect.  Therein  lies  our  greatness.  We 
are  the  champions  of  peace  and  of  concord.  And  we 
should  be  very  jealous  of  this  distinction  which  we 
have  sought  to  earn.  Just  now  we  should  be  particularly 
jealous  of  it,  because  it  is  our  dearest  present  hope 
that  this  character  and  reputation  may  presently,  in 
God's  providence,  bring  us  an  opportunity  such  as  has 
seldom  been  vouchsafed  any  nation,  the  opportunity 
to  counsel  and  obtain  peace  in  the  world  and  recon 
ciliation  and  a  healing  settlement  of  many  a  matter 
that  has  cooled  and  interrupted  the  friendship  of 
nations.  This  is  the  time  above  all  others  when  we 


80  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

should  wish  and  resolve  to  keep  our  strength  by  self- 
possession,  our  influence  by  preserving  our  ancient 
principles  of  action. 

From  the  first  we  have  had  a  clear  and  settled 
policy  with  regard  to  military  establishments.  We 
never  have  had,  and  while  we  retain  our  present  prin 
ciples  and  ideals  we  never  shall  have,  a  large  standing 
army.  If  asked,  Are  you  ready  to  defend  yourselves0? 
we  reply,  Most  assuredly,  to  the  utmost;  and  yet  we 
shall  not  turn  America  into  a  military  camp.  We  will 
not  ask  our  young  men  to  spend  the  best  years  of  their 
lives  making  soldiers  of  themselves.  There  is  another 
sort  of  energy  in  us.  It  will  know  how  to  declare 
itself  and  make  itself  effective  should  occasion  arise. 
And  especially  when  half  the  world  is  on  fire  we  shall 
be  careful  to  make  our  moral  insurance  against  the 
spread  of  the  conflagration  very  definite  and  certain 
and  adequate  indeed. 

Let  us  remind  ourselves,  therefore,  of  the  only  thing 
we  can  do  or  will  do.  We  must  depend  in  every  time 
of  national  peril,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  not  upon 
a  standing  army,  nor  yet  upon  a  reserve  army,  but 
upon  a  citizenry  trained  and  accustomed  to  arms.  It 
will  be  right  enough,  right  American  policy,  based 
upon  our  accustomed  principles  and  practices,  to  pro 
vide  a  system  by  which  every  citizen  who  will  volunteer 
for  the  training  may  be  made  familiar  with  the  use 
of  modern  arms,  the  rudiments  of  drill  and  maneuver, 
and  the  maintenance  and  sanitation  of  camps.  We 
should  encourage  such  training  and  make  it  a  means 
of  discipline  which  our  young  men  will  learn  to  value. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  81 

It  is  right  that  we  should  provide  it  not  only,  but 
that  we  should  make  it  as  attractive  as  possible,  and 
so  induce  our  young  men  to  undergo  it  at  such  times 
as  they  can  command  a  little  freedom  and  can  seek 
the  physical  development  they  need,  for  mere  health's 
sake,  if  for  nothing  more.  Every  means  by  which 
such  things  can  be  stimulated  is  legitimate,  and  such 
a  method  smacks  of  true  American  ideas.  It  is  right, 
too,  that  the  National  Guard  of  the  States  should  be 
developed  and  strengthened  by  every  means  which  is 
not  inconsistent  with  our  obligations  to  our  own  people 
or  with  the  established  policy  of  our  Government.  And 
this,  also,  not  because  the  time  or  occasion  specially 
calls  for  such  measures,  but  because  it  should  be  our 
constant  policy  to  make  these  provisions  for  our  na 
tional  peace  and  safety. 

More  than  this  carries  with  it  a  reversal  of  the 
whole  history  and  character  of  our  polity.  More  than 
this,  proposed  at  this  time,  permit  me  to  say,  would 
mean  merely  that  we  had  lost  our  self-possession,  that 
we  had  been  thrown  off  our  balance  by  a  war  with 
which  we  have  nothing  to  do,  whose  causes  can  not 
touch  us,  whose  very  existence  affords  us  opportunities 
of  friendship  and  disinterested  service  which  should 
make  us  ashamed  of  any  thought  of  hostility  or  fearful 
preparation  for  trouble.  This  is  assuredly  the  oppor 
tunity  for  which  a  people  and  a  government  like  ours 
were  raised  up,  the  opportunity  not  only  to  speak  but 
actually  to  embody  and  exemplify  the  counsels  of  peace 
and  amity  and  the  lasting  concord  which  is  based  on 
justice  and  fair  and  generous  dealing. 


82  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

A  powerful  navy  we  have  always  regarded  as  our 
proper  and  natural  means  of  defense ;  and  it  has  always 
been  of  defense  that  we  have  thought,  never  of  ag 
gression  or  of  conquest.  But  who  shall  tell  us  now 
what  sort  of  a  navy  to  build?  We  shall  take  leave 
to  be  strong  upon  the  seas,  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past;  and  there  will  be  no  thought  of  offense  or  of 
provocation  in  that.  Our  ships  are  our  natural  bul 
warks.  When  will  the  experts  tell  us  just  what  kind 
we  should  construct — and  when  will  they  be  right  for 
ten  years  together,  if  the  relative  efficiency  of  craft 
of  different  kinds  and  uses  continues  to  change  as  we 
have  seen  it  change  under  our  very  eyes  in  these  last 
few  months? 

But  I  turn  away  from  the  subject.  It  is  not  new. 
There  is  no  new  need  to  discuss  it.  We  shall  not  alter 
our  attitude  toward  it  because  some  amongst  us  are 
nervous  and  excited.  We  shall  easily  and  sensibly 
agree  upon  a  policy  of  defense.  The  question  has  not 
changed  its  aspect  because  the  times  are  not  normal. 
Our  policy  will  not  be  for  an  occasion.  It  will  be 
conceived  as  a  permanent  and  settled  thing,  which  we 
will  pursue  at  all  seasons,  without  haste  and  after  a 
fashion  perfectly  consistent  with  the  peace  of  the 
world,  the  abiding  friendship  of  States,  and  the  un 
hampered  freedom  of  all  with  whom  we  deal.  Let 
there  be  no  misconception.  The  country  has  been  mis 
informed.  We  have  not  been  negligent  of  national 
defense.  We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  great  responsi 
bility  resting  upon  us.  We  shall  learn  and  profit  by 
the  lesson  of  every  experience  and  every  new  cir- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  83 

cumstance;    and   what   is   needed   will   be    adequately 
done. 

I  close,  as  I  began,  by  reminding  you  of  the  great 
tasks  and  duties  of  peace  which  challenge  our  best 
powers  and  invite  us  to  build  what  will  last,  the  tasks 
to  which  we  can  address  ourselves  now  and  at  all 
times  with  free-hearted  zest  and  with  all  the  finest  gifts 
of  constructive  wisdom  we  possess.  To  develop  our 
life  and  our  resources;  to  supply  our  own  people,  and 
the  people  of  the  world  as  their  need  arises,  from  the 
abundant  plenty  of  our  fields  and  our  marts  of  trade; 
to  enrich  the  commerce  of  our  own  States  and  of  the 
world  with  the  products  of  our  mines,  our  farms,  and 
our  factories,  with  the  creations  of  our  thought  and 
the  fruits  of  our  character, — this  is  what  will  hold  our 
attention  and  our  enthusiasm  steadily,  now  and  in  the 
years  to  come,  as  we  strive  to  show  in  our  life  as  a 
nation  what  liberty  and  the  inspirations  of  an  emanci 
pated  spirit  may  do  for  men  and  for  societies,  for 
individuals,  for  states,  and  for  mankind. 


AMERICA   FIRST 

ADDRESS  AT  THE  ASSOCIATED  PRESS 

LUNCHEON,   NEW   YORK, 

APRIL   20,   1915 

ME.  PKESIDENT,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  ASSOCIATED  PRESS, 
LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

I  am  deeply  gratified  by  the  generous  reception  you 
have  accorded  me.  It  makes  me  look  back  with  a  touch 
of  regret  to  former  occasions  when  I  have  stood  in  this 
place  and  enjoyed  a  greater  liberty  than  is  granted  me 
to-day.  There  have  been  times  when  I  stood  in  this 
spot  and  said  what  I  really  thought,  and  I  cannot  help 
praying  that  those  days  of  indulgence  may  be  accorded 
me  again.  I  have  come  here  to-day,  of  course,  some 
what  restrained  by  a  sense  of  responsibility  which  I 
cannot  escape.  For  I  take  the  Associated  Press  very 
seriously.  I  know  the  enormous  part  that  you  play  in 
the  affairs  not  only  of  this  country  but  of  the  world. 
You  deal  in  the  raw  material  of  opinion  and,  if  my  con 
victions  have  any  validity,  opinion  ultimately  governs 
the  world. 

It  is,  therefore,  of  very  serious  things  that  I  think 
as  I  face  this  body  of  men.  I  do  not  think  of  you,  how 
ever,  as  members  of  the  Associated  Press.  I  do  not 
think  of  you  as  men  of  different  parties  or  of  different 
racial  derivations  or  of  different  religious  denomina 
tions.  I  want  to  talk  to  you  as  to  my  fellow  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  for  there  are  serious  things  which 

84 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  85 

as  fellow  citizens  we  ought  to  consider.  The  times  be 
hind  us,  gentlemen,  have  been  difficult  enough ;  the  times 
before  us  are  likely  to  be  more  difficult  still,  because, 
whatever  may  be  said  about  the  present  condition  of 
the  world's  affairs,  it  is  clear  that  they  are  drawing 
rapidly  to  a  climax,  and  at  the  climax  the  test  will 
come,  not  only  for  the  nations  engaged  in  the  present 
colossal  struggle — it  will  come  to  them,  of  course — but 
the  test  will  come  for  us  particularly. 

Do  you  realize  that,  roughly  speaking,  we  are  the 
only  great  Nation  at  present  disengaged?  I  am  not 
speaking,  of  course,  with  disparagement  of  the  greatness 
of  those  nations  in  Europe  which  are  not  parties  to  the 
present  war,  but  I  am  thinking  of  their  close  neighbor 
hood  to  it.  I  am  thinking  how  their  lives  much  more 
than  ours  touch  the  very  heart  and  stuff  of  the  business, 
whereas  we  have  rolling  between  us  and  those  bitter 
days  across  the  water  3,000  miles  of  cool  and  silent 
ocean.  Our  atmosphere  is  not  yet  charged  with  those 
disturbing  elements  which  must  permeate  every  nation 
of  Europe.  Therefore,  is  it  not  likely  that  the  nations 
of  the  world  will  some  day  turn  to  us  for  the  cooler 
assessment  of  the  elements  engaged?  I  am  not  now 
thinking  so  preposterous  a  thought  as  that  we  should 
sit  in  judgment  upon  them — no  nation  is  fit  to  sit  in 
judgment  upon  any  other  nation — but  that  we  shall  some 
day  have  to  assist  in  reconstructing  the  processes  of 
peace.  Our  resources  are  untouched;  we  are  more  and 
more  becoming  by  the  force  of  circumstances  the  medi 
ating  Nation  of  the  world  in  respect  of  its  finance.  We 
must  make  up  our  minds  what  are  the  best  things  to  do 


86  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  what  are  the  best  ways  to  do  them.  We  must  put 
our  money,  our  energy,  our  enthusiasm,  our  sympathy 
into  these  things,  and  we  must  have  our  judgments  pre 
pared  and  our  spirits  chastened  against  the  coming  of 
that  day. 

So  that  I  am  not  speaking  in  a  selfish  spirit  when  I 
say  that  our  whole  duty,  for  the  present  at  any  rate,  is 
summed  up  in  this  motto,  " America  first."  Let  us  think 
of  America  before  we  think  of  Europe,  in  order  that 
America  may  be  fit  to  be  Europe's  friend  when  the  day 
of  tested  friendship  comes.  The  test  of  friendship  is 
not  now  sympathy  with  the  one  side  or  the  other,  but 
getting  ready  to  help  both  sides  when  the  struggle  is 
over.  The  basis  of  neutrality,  gentlemen,  is  not  indif 
ference;  it  is  not  self-interest.  The  basis  of  neutrality 
is  sympathy  for  mankind.  It  is  fairness,  it  is  good  will, 
at  bottom.  It  is  impartiality  of  spirit  and  of  judgment. 
I  wish  that  all  of  our  fellow  citizens  could  realize  that. 
There  is  in  some  quarters  a  disposition  to  create  dis 
tempers  in  this  body  politic.  Men  are  even  uttering 
slanders  against  the  United  States,  as  if  to  excite  her. 
Men  are  saying  that  if  we  should  go  to  war  upon  either 
side  there  would  be  a  divided  America — an  abominable 
libel  of  ignorance!  America  is  not  all  of  it  vocal  just 
now.  It  is  vocal  in  spots,  but  I,  for  one,  have  a  complete 
and  abiding  faith  in  that  great  silent  body  of  Ameri 
cans  who  are  not  standing  up  and  shouting  and  express 
ing  their  opinions  just  now,  but  are  waiting  to  find  out 
and  support  the  duty  of  America.  I  am  just  as  sure  of 
their  solidity  and  of  their  loyalty  and  of  their  una 
nimity,  if  we  act  justly,  as  I  am  that  the  history  of  this 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  87 

country  has  at  every  crisis  and  turning-point  illustrated 
this  great  lesson. 

We  are  the  mediating  Nation  of  the  world.  I  do  not 
mean  that  we  undertake  not  to  mind  our  own  business 
and  to  mediate  where  other  people  are  quarreling.  I 
mean  the  word  in  a  broader  sense.  We  are  compounded 
of  the  nations  of  the  world;  we  mediate  their  blood,  we 
mediate  their  traditions,  we  mediate  their  sentiments, 
their  tastes,  their  passions ;  we  are  ourselves  compounded 
of  those  things.  We  are,  therefore,  able  to  understand 
all  nations ;  we  are  able  to  understand  them  in  the  com 
pound,  not  separately,  as  partisans,  but  unitedly  as 
knowing  and  comprehending  and  embodying  them  all. 
It  is  in  that  sense  that  I  mean  that  America  is  a  medi 
ating  Nation.  The  opinion  of  America,  the  action  of 
America,  is  ready  to  turn,  and  free  to  turn,  in  any 
direction.  Did  you  ever  reflect  upon  how  almost  every 
other  nation  has  through  long  centuries  been  headed  in 
one  direction?  That  is  not  true  of  the  United  States. 
The  United  States  has  no  racial  momentum.  It  has  no 
history  back  of  it  which  makes  it  run  all  its  energies 
and  all  its  ambitions  in  one  particular  direction.  And 
America  is  particularly  free  in  this,  that  she  has  no 
hampering  ambitions  as  a  world  power.  We  do  not 
want  a  foot  of  anybody's  territory.  If  we  have  been 
obliged  by  circumstances,  or  have  considered  ourselves 
to  be  obliged  by  circumstances,  in  the  past,  to  take  terri 
tory  which  we  otherwise  would  not  have  thought  of 
taking,  I  believe  I  am  right  in  saying  that  we  have 
considered  it  our  duty  to  administer  that  territory,  not 
for  ourselves  but  for  the  people  living  in  it,  and  to  put 


88  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

this  burden  upon  our  consciences — not  to  think  that  this 
thing  is  ours  for  our  use,  but  to  regard  ourselves  as 
trustees  of  the  great  business  for  those  to  whom  it  does 
really  belong,  trustees  ready  to  hand  it  over  to  the 
cestui  que  trust  at  any  time  when  the  business  seems 
to  make  that  possible  and  feasible.  That  is  what  I  mean 
by  saying  we  have  no  hampering  ambitions.  We  do  not 
want  anything  that  does  not  belong  to  us.  Is  not  a 
nation  in  that  position  free  to  serve  other  nations,  and 
is  not  a  nation  like  that  ready  to  form  some  part  of  the 
assessing  opinion  of  the  world? 

My  interest  in  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States 
is  not  the  petty  desire  to  keep  out  of  trouble.  To  judge 
by  my  experience,  I  have  never  been  able  to  keep  out 
of  trouble.  I  have  never  looked  for  it,  but  I  have 
always  found  it.  I  do  not  want  to  walk  around  trouble. 
If  any  man  wants  a  scrap  that  is  an  interesting  scrap 
and  worth  while,  I  am  his  man.  I  warn  him  that  he  is 
not  going  to  draw  me  into  the  scrap  for  his  advertise 
ment,  but  if  he  is  looking  for  trouble  that  is  the  trouble 
of  men  in  general  and  I  can  help  a  little,  why,  then,  I 
am  in  for  it.  But  I  am  interested  in  neutrality  because 
there  is  something  so  much  greater  to  do  than  fight; 
there  is  a  distinction  waiting  for  this  Nation  that  no 
nation  has  ever  yet  got.  That  is  the  distinction  of  abso 
lute  self-control  and  self-mastery.  Whom  do  you  ad 
mire  most  among  your  friends?  The  irritable  man? 
The  man  out  of  whom  you  can  get  a  "rise"  without 
trying  ?  The  man  who  will  fight  at  the  drop  of  the  hat, 
whether  he  knows  what  the  hat  is  dropped  for  or  not? 
Don't  you  admire  and  don't  you  fear,  if  you  have  to 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  89 

contest  with  him,  the  self-mastered  man  who  watches 
you  with  calm  eye  and  comes  in  only  when  you  have 
carried  the  thing  so  far  that  you  must  be  disposed  of? 
That  is  the  man  you  respect.  That  is  the  man  who,  you 
know,  has  at  bottom  a  much  more  fundamental  and  ter 
rible  courage  than  the  irritable,  fighting  man.  Now,  I 
covet  for  America  this  splendid  courage  of  reserve  moral 
force,  and  I  wanted  to  point  out  to  you  gentlemen  sim 
ply  this: 

There  is  news  and  news.  There  is  what  is  called 
news  from  Turtle  Bay  that  turns  out  to  be  falsehood, 
at  any  rate  in  what  it  is  said  to  signify,  but  which,  if 
you  could  get  the  Nation  to  believe  it  true,  might  dis 
turb  our  equilibrium  and  our  self-possession.  We  ought 
not  to  deal  in  stuff  of  that  kind.  We  ought  not  to  per 
mit  that  sort  of  thing  to  use  up  the  electrical  energy  of 
the  wires,  because  its  energy  is  malign,  its  energy  is  not 
of  the  truth,  its  energy  is  of  mischief.  It  is  possible  to 
sift  truth.  I  have  known  some  things  to  go  out  on  the 
wires  as  true  when  there  was  only  one  man  or  one  group 
of  men  who  could  have  told  the  originators  of  that  report 
whether  it  was  true  or  not,  and  they  were  not  asked 
whether  it  was  true  or  not  for  fear  it  might  not  be  true. 
That  sort  of  report  ought  not  to  go  out  over  the  wires. 
There  is  generally,  if  not  always,  somebody  who  knows 
whether  the  thing  is  so  or  not,  and  in  these  days,  above 
all  other  days,  we  ought  to  take  particular  pains  to  resort 
to  the  one  small  group  of  men,  or  to  the  one  man  if 
there  be  but  one,  who  knows  whether  those  things  are 
true  or  not.  The  world  ought  to  know  the  truth;  the 
world  ought  not  at  this  period  of  unstable  equilibrium 


90  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

to  be  disturbed  by  rumor,  ought  not  to  be  disturbed  by 
imaginative  combinations  of  circumstances,  or,  rather, 
by  circumstances  stated  in  combination  which  do  not 
belong  in  combination.  You  gentlemen,  and  gentlemen 
engaged  like  you,  are  holding  the  balances  in  your  hand. 
This  unstable  equilibrium  rests  upon  scales  that  are  in 
your  hands.  For  the  food  of  opinion,  as  I  began  by 
saying,  is  the  news  of  the  day.  I  have  known  many  a 
man  to  go  off  at  a  tangent  on  information  that  was  not 
reliable.  Indeed,  that  describes  the  majority  of  men. 
The  world  is  held  stable  by  the  man  who  waits  for  the 
next  day  to  find  out  whether  the  report  was  true  or  not. 

We  cannot  afford,  therefore,  to  let  the  rumors  of 
irresponsible  persons  and  origins  get  into  the  atmos 
phere  of  the  United  States.  We  are  trustees  for  what 
I  venture  to  say  is  the  greatest  heritage  that  any  nation 
ever  had,  the  love  of  justice  and  righteousness  and 
human  liberty.  For,  fundamentally,  those  are  the  things 
to  which  America  is  addicted  and  to  which  she  is  devoted. 
There  are  groups  of  selfish  men  in  the  United  States, 
there  are  coteries,  where  sinister  things  are  purposed, 
but  the  great  heart  of  the  American  people  is  just  as 
sound  and  true  as  it  ever  was.  And  it  is  a  single  heart ; 
it  is  the  heart  of  America.  It  is  not  a  heart  made  up 
of  sections  selected  out  of  other  countries. 

What  I  try  to  remind  myself  of  every  day  when  I  am 
almost  overcome  by  perplexities,  what  I  try  to  remem 
ber,  is  what  the  people  at  home  are  thinking  about.  I 
try  to  put  myself  in  the  place  of  the  man  who  does  not 
know  all  the  things  that  I  know  and  ask  myself  what 
he  would  like  the  policy  of  this  country  to  be.  Not  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  91 

talkative  man,  not  the  partisan  man,  not  the  man  who 
remembers  first  that  he  is  a  Republican  or  a  Democrat, 
or  that  his  parents  were  German  or  English,  but  the 
man  who  remembers  first  that  the  whole  destiny  of 
modern  affairs  centers  largely  upon  his  being  an  Ameri 
can  first  of  all.  If  I  permitted  myself  to  be  a  partisan 
in  this  present  struggle,  I  would  be  unworthy  to  repre 
sent  you.  If  I  permitted  myself  to  forget  the  people 
who  are  not  partisans,  I  would  be  unworthy  to  be  your 
spokesman.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  am  worthy  to  repre 
sent  you,  but  I  do  claim  this  degree  of  worthiness — that 
before  everything  else  I  love  America. 


ADDRESS  TO  NEWLY  NATURALIZED  AMER 
ICAN  CITIZENS,  CONVENTION  HALL, 
PHILADELPHIA,  MAY  10,  1915 

MR.  MAYOR,  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

It  warms  my  heart  that  you  should  give  me  such  a 
reception;  but  it  is  not  of  myself  that  I  wish  to  think 
to-night,  but  of  those  who  have  just  become  citizens  of 
the  United  States. 

This  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  which  experi 
ences  this  constant  and  repeated  rebirth.  Other  coun 
tries  depend  upon  the  multiplication  of  their  own  native 
people.  This  country  is  constantly  drinking  strength 
out  of  new  sources  by  the  voluntary  association  with  it 
of  great  bodies  of  strong  men  and  forward-looking 
women  out  of  other  lands.  And  so  by  the  gift  of  the 
free  will  of  independent  people  it  is  being  constantly 
renewed  from  generation  to  generation  by  the  same 
process  by  which  it  was  originally  created.  It  is  as  if 
humanity  had  determined  to  see  to  it  that  this  great 
Nation,  founded  for  the  benefit  of  humanity,  should  not 
lack  for  the  allegiance  of  the  people  of  the  world. 

You  have  just  taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
United  States.  Of  allegiance  to  whom?  Of  allegiance 
to  no  one,  unless  it  be  God — certainly  not  of  allegiance 
to  those  who  temporarily  represent  this  great  Govern 
ment.  You  have  taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  a  great 
ideal,  to  a  great  body  of  principles,  to  a  great  hope  of 

92 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  93 

the  human  race.  You  have  said,  "We  are  going  to 
America  not  only  to  earn  a  living,  not  only  to  seek  the 
things  which  it  was  more  difficult  to  obtain  where  we 
were  born,  but  to  help  forward  the  great  enterprises  of 
the  human  spirit — to  let  men  know  that  everywhere  in 
the  world  there  are  men  who  will  cross  strange  oceans 
and  go  where  a  speech  is  spoken  which  is  alien  to  them 
if  they  can  but  satisfy  their  quest  for  what  their  spirits 
crave;  knowing  that  whatever  the  speech  there  is  but 
one  longing  and  utterance  of  the  human  heart,  and 
that  is  for  liberty  and  justice."  And  while  you  bring 
all  countries  with  you,  you  come  with  a  purpose  of 
leaving  all  other  countries  behind  you — bringing  what 
is  best  of  their  spirit,  but  not  looking  over  your  shoul 
ders  and  seeking  to  perpetuate  what  you  intended  to 
leave  behind  in  them.  I  certainly  would  not  be  one  even 
to  suggest  that  a  man  cease  to  love  the  home  of  his 
birth  and  the  nation  of  his  origin — these  things  are  very 
sacred  and  ought  not  to  be  put  out  of  our  hearts — but 
it  is  one  thing  to  love  the  place  where  you  were  born 
and  it  is  another  thing  to  dedicate  yourself  to  the  place 
to  which  you  go.  You  cannot  dedicate  yourself  to 
America  unless  you  become  in  every  respect  and  with 
every  purpose  of  your  will  thorough  Americans.  You 
cannot  become  thorough  Americans  if  you  think  of 
yourselves  in  groups.  America  does  not  consist  of 
groups.  A  man  who  thinks  of  himself  as  belonging  to 
a  particular  national  group  in  America  has  not  yet 
become  an  American,  and  the  man  who  goes  among  you 
to  trade  upon  your  nationality  is  no  worthy  son  to  live 
under  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 


94  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

My  urgent  advice  to  you  would  be,  not  only  always 
to  think  first  of  America,  but  always,  also,  to  think  first 
of  humanity.  You  do  not  love  humanity  if  you  seek  to 
divide  humanity  into  jealous  camps.  Humanity  can  be 
welded  together  only  by  love,  by  sympathy,  by  justice, 
not  by  jealousy  and  hatred.  I  am  sorry  for  the  man 
who  seeks  to  make  personal  capital  out  of  the  passions 
of  his  fellow-men.  He  has  lost  the  touch  and  ideal  of 
America,  for  America  was  created  to  unite  mankind  by 
those  passions  which  lift  and  not  by  the  passions  which 
separate  and  debase.  We  came  to  America,  either  our 
selves  or  in  the  persons  of  our  ancestors,  to  better  the 
ideals  of  men,  to  make  them  see  finer  things  than  they 
had  seen  before,  to  get  rid  of  the  things  that  divide  and 
to  make  sure  of  the  things  that  unite.  It  was  but  an 
historical  accident  no  doubt  that  this  great  country  was 
called  the  " United  States";  yet  I  am  very  thankful  that 
it  has  that  word  " United"  in  its  title,  and  the  man 
who  seeks  to  divide  man  from  man,  group  from  group, 
interest  from  interest  in  this  great  Union  is  striking  at 
its  very  heart. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  circumstance  to  me,  in  think 
ing  of  those  of  you  who  have  just  sworn  allegiance  to 
this  great  Government,  that  you  were  drawn  across  the 
ocean  by  some  beckoning  finger  of  hope,  by  some  belief, 
by  some  vision  of  a  new  kind  of  justice,  by  some  expec 
tation  of  a  better  kind  of  life.  No  doubt  you  have  been 
disappointed  in  some  of  us.  Some  of  us  are  very  dis 
appointing.  No  doubt  you  have  found  that  justice  in 
the  United  States  goes  only  with  a  pure  heart  and  a 
right  purpose  as  it  does  everywhere  else  in  the  world. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  95 

No  doubt  what  you  found  here  did  not  seem  touched  for 
you,  after  all,  with  the  complete  beauty  of  the  ideal 
which  you  had  conceived  beforehand.  But  remember 
this:  If  we  had  grown  at  all  poor  in  the  ideal,  you 
brought  some  of  it  with  you.  A  man  does  not  go  out 
to  seek  the  thing  that  is  not  in  him.  A  man  does  not 
hope  for  the  thing  that  he  does  not  believe  in,  and  if 
some  of  us  have  forgotten  what  America  believed  in, 
you,  at  any  rate,  imported  in  your  own  hearts  a  renewal 
of  the  belief.  That  is  the  reason  that  I,  for  one,  make 
you  welcome.  If  I  have  in  any  degree  forgotten  what 
America  was  intended  for,  I  will  thank  God  if  you  will 
remind  me.  I  was  born  in  America.  You  dreamed 
dreams  of  what  America  was  to  be,  and  I  hope  you 
brought  the  dreams  with  you.  No  man  that  does  not  see 
visions  will  ever  realize  any  high  hope  or  undertake  any 
high  enterprise.  Just  because  you  brought  dreams  with 
you,  America  is  more  likely  to  realize  dreams  such  as 
you  brought.  You  are  enriching  us  if  you  came  expect 
ing  us  to  be  better  than  we  are. 

See,  my  friends,  what  that  means.  It  means  that 
Americans  must  have  a  consciousness  different  from  the 
consciousness  of  every  other  nation  in  the  world.  I  am 
not  saying  this  with  even  the  slightest  thought  of  criti 
cism  of  other  nations.  You  know  how  it  is  with  a 
family.  A  family  gets  centered  on  itself  if  it  is  not 
careful  and  is  less  interested  in  the  neighbors  than  it 
is  in  its  own  members.  So  a  nation  that  is  not  con 
stantly  renewed  out  of  new  sources  is  apt  to  have  the 
narrowness  and  prejudice  of  a  family;  whereas,  America 
must  have  this  consciousness,  that  on  all  sides  it  touches 


96  PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

elbows  and  touches  hearts  with  all  the  nations  of  man 
kind.  The  exampls  of  America  must  be  a  special  ex 
ample.  The  example  of  America  must  be  the  example 
not  merely  of  peace  because  it  will  not  fight,  but  of  peace 
because  peace  is  the  healing  and  elevating  influence  of 
the  world  and  strife  is  not.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
man  being  too  proud  to  fight.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
nation  being  so  right  that  it  does  not  need  to  convince 
others  by  force  that  it  is  right. 

You  have  come  into  this  great  Nation  voluntarily 
seeking  something  that  we  have  to  give,  and  all  that  we 
have  to  give  is  this:  We  cannot  exempt  you  from  work. 
No  man  is  exempt  from  work  anywhere  in  the  world. 
We  cannot  exempt  you  from  the  strife  and  the  heart 
breaking  burden  of  the  struggle  of  the  day — that  is 
common  to  mankind  everywhere ;  we  cannot  exempt  you 
from  the  loads  that  you  must  carry.  We  can  only  make 
them  light  by  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  carried.  That 
is  the  spirit  of  hope,  it  is  the  spirit  of  liberty,  it  is  the 
spirit  of  justice. 

When  I  was  asked,  therefore,  by  the  Mayor  and  the 
committee  that  accompanied  him  to  come  up  from 
Washington  to  meet  this  great  company  of  newly  ad 
mitted  citizens,  I  could  not  decline  the  invitation.  I 
ought  not  to  be  away  from  Washington,  and  yet  I  feel 
that  it  has  renewed  my  spirit  as  an  American  to  be 
here.  In  Washington  men  tell  you  so  many  things  every 
day  that  are  not  so,  and  I  like  to  come  and  stand  in  the 
presence  of  a  great  body  of  my  fellow-citizens,  whether 
they  have  been  my  fellow-citizens  a  long  time  or  a  short 
time,  and  drink,  as  it  were,  out  of  the  common  fountains 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  97 

with  them  and  go  back  feeling  what  you  have  so  gen 
erously  given  me — the  sense  of  your  support  and  of  the 
living  vitality  in  your  hearts  of  the  great  ideals  which 
have  made  America  the  hope  of  the  world. 


THE  NAVY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

ADDRESS   AT   THE   LUNCHEON    TENDERED 
THE  PRESIDENT  BY  THE  MAYOR'S  COM 
MITTEE,  NEW  YORK  CITY,  MAY  17,  1915 

ME.  MAYOR,  MR.  SECRETARY,  ADMIRAL  FLETCHER,  AND 
GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  FLEET: 

This  is  not  an  occasion  upon  which,  it  seems  to  me, 
it  would  be  wise  for  me  to  make  many  remarks,  but  I 
would  deprive  myself  of  a  great  gratification  if  I  did 
not  express  my  pleasure  in  being  here,  my  gratitude 
for  the  splendid  reception  which  has  been  accorded  me 
as  the  representative  of  the  Nation,  and  my  profound 
interest  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States.  That  is  an 
interest  with  which  I  was  apparently  born,  for  it  began 
when  I  was  a  youngster  and  has  ripened  with  my  knowl 
edge  of  the  affairs  and  policies  of  the  United  States. 

I  think  it  is  a  natural,  instinctive  judgment  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  that  they  express  their 
power  most  appropriately  in  an  efficient  navy,  and  their 
interest  in  their  ships  is  partly,  I  believe,  because  that 
Navy  is  expected  to  express  their  character,  not  within 
our  own  borders  where  that  character  is  understood,  but 
outside  our  borders  where  it  is  hoped  we  may  occasion 
ally  touch  others  with  some  slight  vision  of  what  Amer 
ica  stands  for. 

Before  I  speak  of  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  I 
want  to  take  advantage  of  the  first  public  opportunity  I 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  99 

have  had  to  speak  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  to  ex 
press  my  confidence  and  my  admiration,  and  to  say  that 
he  has  my  unqualified  support.  For  I  have  counseled 
with  him  in  intimate  fashion;  I  know  how  sincerely  he 
has  it  at  heart  that  everything  that  the  Navy  does  and 
handles  should  be  done  and  handled  as  the  people  of  the 
United  States  wish  it  handled.  Efficiency  is  something 
more  than  organization.  Efficiency  runs  to  the  extent 
of  lifting  the  ideals  of  a  service  above  every  personal 
interest.  So  when  I  speak  my  support  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  I  am  merely  speaking  my  support  of  what 
I  know  every  true  lover  of  the  Navy  to  desire  and  to 
purpose;  for  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  is,  as  I 
have  said,  a  body  specially  intrusted  with  the  ideals  of 
America. 

I  like  to  image  in  my  thought  this  idea :  These  quiet 
ships  lying  in  the  river  have  no  suggestion  of  bluster 
about  them,  no  intimation  of  aggression.  They  are  com 
manded  by  men  thoughtful  of  the  duty  of  citizens  as 
well  as  the  duty  of  officers,  men  acquainted  with  the 
traditions  of  the  great  service  to  which  they  belong, 
men  who  know  by  touch  with  the  people  of  the  United 
States  what  sort  of  purposes  they  ought  to  entertain  and 
what  sort  of  discretion  they  ought  to  exercise  in  order 
to  use  those  engines  of  force  as  engines  to  promote  the 
interests  of  humanity. 

The  interesting  and  inspiring  thing  about  America, 
gentlemen,  is  that  she  asks  nothing  for  herself  except 
what  she  has  a  right  to  ask  for  humanity  itself.  We 
want  no  nation's  property.  We  mean  to  question  no 
nation's  honor.  We  do  not  wish  to  stand  selfishly  in 


100          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  way  of  the  development  of  any  nation.  We  want 
nothing  that  we  cannot  get  by  our  own  legitimate  enter 
prise  and  by  the  inspiration  of  our  own  example;  and, 
standing  for  these  things,  it  is  not  pretension  on  our 
part  to  say  that  we  are  privileged  to  stand  for  what 
every  nation  would  wish  to  stand  for,  and  speak  for 
those  things  which  all  humanity  must  desire. 

When  I  think  of  the  flag  which  those  ships  carry, 
the  only  touch  of  color  about  them,  the  only  thing  that 
moves  as  if  it  had  a  subtle  spirit  in  it  in  their  solid 
structure,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  see  alternate  strips  of 
parchment  upon  which  are  written  the  rights  of  liberty 
and  justice,  and  stripes  of  blood  spilt  to  vindicate  those 
rights ;  and,  then,  in  the  corner  a  prediction  of  the  blue 
serene  into  which  every  nation  may  swim  which  stands 
for  these  things. 

The  mission  of  America  is  the  only  thing  that  a 
sailor  or  a  soldier  should  think  about.  He  has  nothing 
to  do  with  the  formulation  of  her  policy.  He  is  to  sup 
port  her  policy  whatever  it  is;  but  he  is  to  support  her 
policy  in  the  spirit  of  herself,  and  the  strength  of  our 
polity  is  that  we  who  for  the  time  being  administer  the 
affairs  of  this  Nation  do  not  originate  her  spirit.  We 
attempt  to  embody  it ;  we  attempt  to  realize  it  in  action ; 
we  are  dominated  by  it,  we  do  not  dictate  it. 

So  with  every  man  in  arms  who  serves  the  Nation; 
he  stands  and  waits  to  do  the  thing  which  the  Nation 
desires.  Those  who  represent  America  sometimes  seem 
to  forget  her  programs,  but  the  people  never  forget 
them.  It  is  as  startling  as  it  is  touching  to  see  how 
whenever  you  touch  a  principle  you  touch  the  hearts  of 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  101 

the  people  of  the  United  States.  They  listen  to  your 
debates  of  policy,  they  determine  which  party  they  will 
prefer  to  power,  they  choose  and  prefer  as  between  men, 
but  their  real  affection,  their  real  force,  their  real  irre 
sistible  momentum  is  for  the  ideas  which  men  embody. 
I  never  go  on  the  streets  of  a  great  city  without  feeling 
that  somehow  I  do  not  confer  elsewhere  than  on  the 
streets  with  the  great  spirit  of  the  people  themselves, 
going  about  their  business,  attending  to  the  things  which 
immediately  concern  them,  and  yet  carrying  a  treasure 
at  their  hearts  all  the  while,  ready  to  be  stirred  not  only 
as  individuals  but  as  members  of  a  great  union  of  hearts 
that  constitutes  a  patriotic  people.  This  sight  in  the 
river  touches  me  merely  as  a  symbol  of  all  this;  and  it 
quickens  the  pulse  of  every  man  who  realizes  these 
things  to  have  anything  to  do  with  them.  When  a  crisis 
occurs  in  this  country,  gentlemen,  it  is  as  if  you  put 
your  hand  on  the  pulse  of  a  dynamo,  it  is  as  if  the 
things  that  you  were  in  connection  with  were  spiritually 
bred,  as  if  you  had  nothing  to  do  with  them  except,  if 
you  listen  truly,  to  speak  the  things  that  you  hear. 

These  things  now  brood  over  the  river;  this  spirit 
now  moves  with  the  men  who  represent  the  Nation  in 
the  Navy ;  these  things  will  move  upon  the  waters  in  the 
maneuvers — no  threat  lifted  against  any  man,  against 
any  nation,  against  any  interest,  but  just  a  great  solemn 
evidence  that  the  force  of  America  is  the  force  of  moral 
principle,  that  there  is  nothing  else  that  she  loves,  and 
that  there  is  nothing  else  for  which  she  will  contend. 


ADDRESS  AT  THE  PAN  AMERICAN  FINAN 
CIAL  CONFERENCE,  PAN  AMERICAN 
BUILDING,  WASHINGTON, 
MAY  24,  1915 

The  diplomatic  and  consular  appropriations  bill,  approved  by  President  Wil 
son  March  4,  1915,  contained  a  provision  for  a  financial  conference  of  the 
Americas : 

"  The  President  is  hereby  authorized  to  extend  to  the  Governments  of  Cen 
tral  and  South  America  an  invitation  to  be  represented  by  their  ministers  of 
finance  and  leading  bankers,  not  exceeding  three  in  number  in  each  case,  to 
attend  a  conference  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
at  such  date  as  shall  be  determined  by  the  President,  with  a  view  to  establishing 
closer  and  more  satisfactory  financial  relations  between  their  countries  and  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  authority  is  hereby  given  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  invite,  in  his  discretion,  representative  bankers  of  the  United  States 
to  participate  in  the  said  conference,  and  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  such  actual 
and  necessary  expenses  as  may  be  incidental  to  the  meeting  of  said  conference 
and  for  the  entertainment  of  the  foreign  conferees  the  sum  of  $50,000  is  hereby  ap 
propriated,  out  of  any  money  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated,  to  be 
expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury." 

In  pursuance  of  this  act  the  Secretary  of  State  extended  invitations,  on 
behalf  of  the  President,  to  the  countries  of  Latin  America,  all  of  which  were 
represented  by  delegates  of  their  choice  at  a  meeting  held  in  Washington,  May 
24-29,  1915.  Of  this  conference,  the  Honorable  William  G.  McAdoo,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  was  president,  and  at  the  opening  session  of  the  conference, 
President  Wilson  delivered  the  following  address. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  AMERICAN  REPUB 
LICS,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 
The  part  that  falls  to  me  this  morning  is  a  very 
simple  one,  but  a  very  delightful  one.  It  is  to  bid  you 
a  very  hearty  welcome  indeed  to  this  conference.  The 
welcome  is  the  more  hearty  because  we  are  convinced 
that  a  conference  like  this  will  result  in  the  things  that 
we  most  desire.  I  am  sure  that  those  who  have  this 
conference  in  charge  have  already  made  plain  to  you 
its  purpose  and  its  spirit.  Its  purpose  is  to  draw  the 

102 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  103 

American  Republics  together  by  bonds  of  common  inter 
est  and  of  mutual  understanding;  and  we  comprehend, 
I  hope,  just  what  the  meaning  of  that  is.  There  can  be 
no  sort  of  union  of  interest  if  there  is  a  purpose  of 
exploitation  by  any  one  of  the  parties  to  a  great  con 
ference  of  this  sort.  The  basis  of  successful  commer 
cial  intercourse  is  Common  interest,  not  selfish  interest. 
It  is  an  actual  interchange  of  services  and  of  values: 
it  is  based  upon  reciprocal  relations  and  not  selfish  rela 
tions.  It  is  based  upon  those  things  upon  which  all  suc 
cessful  economic  intercourse  must  be  based,  because 
selfishness  breeds  suspicion;  suspicion,  hostility;  and 
hostility,  failure.  We  are  not,  therefore,  trying  to  make 
use  of  each  other,  but  we  are  trying  to  be  of  use  to 
one  another. 

It  is  very  surprising  to  me,  it  is  even  a  source  of 
mortification,  that  a  conference  like  this  should  have 
been  so  long  delayed,  that  it  should  never  have  occurred 
before,  that  it  should  have  required  a  crisis  of  the  world 
to  show  the  Americas  how  truly  they  were  neighbors  to 
one  another.  If  there  is  any  one  happy  circumstance, 
gentlemen,  arising  out  of  the  present  distressing  condi 
tion  of  the  world,  it  is  that  it  has  revealed  us  to  one 
another :  it  has  shown  us  what  it  means  to  be  neighbors. 
And  I  cannot  help  harboring  the  hope,  the  very  high 
hope,  that  by  this  commerce  of  minds  with  one  another, 
as  well  as  commerce  in  goods,  we  may  show  the  world  in 
part  the  path  to  peace.  It  would  be  a  very  great  thing 
if  the  Americas  could  add  to  the  distinction  which  they 
already  wear  this  of  showing  the  way  to  peace,  to  per 
manent  peace. 


104          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  way  to  peace  for  us,  at  any  rate,  is  manifest. 
It  is  the  kind  of  rivalry  which  does  not  involve  aggres 
sion.  It  is  the  knowledge  that  men  can  be  of  the  greatest 
service  to  one  another,  and  nations  of  the  greatest  serv 
ice  to  one  another,  when  the  jealousy  between  them  is 
merely  a  jealousy  of  excellence,  and  when  the  basis  of 
their  intercourse  is  friendship.  There  is  only  one  way 
in  which  we  wish  to  take  advantage  of  you  and  that  is 
by  making  better  goods,  by  doing  the  things  that  we 
seek  to  do  for  each  other  better,  if  we  can,  than  you  do 
them,  and  so  spurring  you  on,  if  we  might,  by  so  hand 
some  a  jealousy  as  that  to  excel  us.  I  am  so  keenly 
aware  that  the  basis  of  personal  friendship  is  this  com 
petition  in  excellence,  that  I  am  perfectly  certain  that 
this  is  the  only  basis  for  the  friendship  of  nations, — this 
handsome  rivalry,  this  rivalry  in  which  there  is  no  dis 
like,  this  rivalry  in  which  there  is  nothing  but  the  hope 
of  a  common  elevation  in  great  enterprises  which  we 
can  undertake  in  common. 

There  is  one  thing  that  stands  in  our  way  among 
others — for  you  are  more  conversant  with  the  circum 
stances  than  I  am;  the  thing  I  have  chiefly  in  mind  is 
the  physical  lack  of  means  of  communication,  the  lack 
of  vehicles, — the  lack  of  ships,  the  lack  of  established 
routes  of  trade, — the  lack  of  those  things  which  are 
absolutely  necessary  if  we  are  to  have  true  commercial 
and  intimate  commercial  relations  with  one  another; 
and  I  am  perfectly  clear  in  my  judgment  that  if  private 
capital  cannot  soon  enter  upon  the  adventure  of  estab 
lishing  these  physical  means  of  communication,  the 
government  must  undertake  to  do  so.  We  cannot  in- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  105 

definitely  stand  apart  and  need  each  other  for  the  lack 
of  what  can  easily  be  supplied,  and  if  one  instrumen 
tality  cannot  supply  it,  then  another  must  be  found 
which  will  supply  it.  We  cannot  know  each  other  unless 
we  see  each  other ;  we  cannot  deal  with  each  other  unless 
we  communicate  with  each  other.  So  soon  as  we  com 
municate  and  are  upon  a  familiar  footing  of  intercourse, 
we  shall  understand  one  another,  and  the  bonds  between 
the  Americas  will  be  such  bonds  that  no  influence  that 
the  world  may  produce  in  the  future  will  ever  break 
them. 

If  I  am  selfish  for  America,  I  at  least  hope  that 
my  selfishness  is  enlightened.  The  selfishness  that  hurts 
the  other  party  is  not  enlightened  selfishness.  If  I  were 
acting  upon  a  mere  ground  of  selfishness,  I  would  seek 
to  benefit  the  other  party  and  so  tie  him  to  myself;  so 
that  even  if  you  were  to  suspect  me  of  selfishness,  I  hope 
you  will  also  suspect  me  of  intelligence  and  of  knowing 
the  only  safe  way  for  the  establishment  of  the  things 
which  we  covet,  as  well  as  the  establishment  of  the 
things  which  we  desire  and  which  we  would  feel  honored 
if  we  could  earn  and  win. 

I  have  said  these  things  because  they  will  perhaps 
enable  you  to  understand  how  far  from  formal  my  wel 
come  to  this  body  is.  It  is  a  welcome  from  the  heart, 
it  is  a  welcome  from  the  head;  it  is  a  welcome  inspired 
by  what  I  hope  are  the  highest  ambitions  of  those  who 
live  in  these  two  great  continents,  who  seek  to  set  an 
example  to  the  world  in  freedom  of  institutions,  free 
dom  of  trade,  and  intelligence  of  mutual  service. 


ADDRESS    TO    THE    DAUGHTERS    OF    THE 
AMERICAN  REVOLUTION,    CONTINEN 
TAL  HALL,  WASHINGTON,  OCTO 
BER  11,  1915 

The  National  Society  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  at 
whose  meeting  in  the  City  of  Washington  on  October  11,  1915,  the  following 
address  was  delivered,  was  organized  in  Washington,  October  11,  1890.  The 
objects  of  the  Society,  as  stated  by  Article  2  of  its  Constitution,  are: 

"  1.  To  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  spirit  of  the  men  and  women  who 
achieved  American  Independence,  by  the  acquisition  and  protection  of  historical 
spots,  and  the  erection  of  monuments;  by  the  encouragement  of  historical  re 
search  in  relation  to  the  Revolution  and  the  publication  of  its  results;  by  the 
preservation  of  monuments  and  relics,  and  of  the  records  of  the  individual  serv 
ices  of  Revolutionary  soldiers  and  patriots,  and  by  the  promotion  of  celebrations 
of  all  patriotic  anniversaries. 

"'  2.  To  carry  out  the  injunction  of  Washington  in  his  farewell  address  to 
the  American  people,  '  to  promote,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  institu 
tions  for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge,'  thus  developing  an  enlightened 
public  opinion,  and  afford  to  young  and  old  such  advantages  as  shall  develop  in 
them  the  largest  capacity  for  performing  the  duties  of  American  citizens. 

"3.  To  cherish,  maintain,  and  extend  the  institution  of  American  freedom, 
to  foster  true  patriotism  and  love  of  country,  and  to  aid  in  securing  for  man 
kind  all  the  blessings  of  liberty." 

MADAM  PRESIDENT  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

Again  it  is  my  very  great  privilege  to  welcome  you 
to  the  City  of  Washington  and  to  the  hospitalities  of 
the  Capital.  May  I  admit  a  point  of  ignorance  ?  I  was 
surprised  to  learn  that  this  association  is  so  young,  and 
that  an  association  so  young  should  devote  itself  wholly 
to  memory  I  cannot  believe.  For  to  me  the  duties  to 
which  you  are  consecrated  are  more  than  the  duties  and 
the  pride  of  memory. 

There  is  a  very  great  thrill  to  be  had  from  the 
memories  of  the  American  Revolution,  but  the  Ameri- 

106 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  107 

can  Eevolution  was  a  beginning,  not  a  consummation, 
and  the  duty  laid  upon  us  by  that  beginning  is  the  duty 
of  bringing  the  things  then  begun  to  a  noble  triumph 
of  completion.    For  it  seems  to  me  that  the  peculiarity 
of  patriotism  in  America  is  that  it  is  not  a  mere  senti 
ment.    It  is  an  active  principle  of  conduct.    It  is  some 
thing  that  was  born  into  the  world,  not  to  please  it  but 
to  regenerate  it.    It  is  something  that  was  born  into  the 
world  to  replace  systems  that  had  preceded  it  and  to 
bring  men  out  upon  a  new  plane  of  privilege.     The 
glory  of  the  men  whose  memories  you  honor  and  per 
petuate  is  that  they  saw  this  vision,  and  it  was  a  vision 
of  the  future.    It  was  a  vision  of  great  days  to  come 
when  a  little  handful  of  three  million  people  upon  the 
borders  of  a  single  sea  should  have  become  a  great  mul 
titude  of  free  men  and  women  spreading  across  a  great 
continent,   dominating  the  shores  of  two  oceans,   and 
sending  West  as  well  as  East  the  influences  of  individual 
freedom.    These  things  were  consciously  in  their  minds 
as  they  framed  the  great  Government  which  was  born 
out  of  the  American  Revolution;  and  every  time  we 
gather  to  perpetuate  their  memories  it  is  incumbent 
upon  us  that  we  should  be  worthy  of  recalling  them  and 
that  we  should  endeavor  by  every  means  in  our  power 
to  emulate  their  example. 

The  American  Revolution  was  the  birth  of  a  nation; 
it  was  the  creation  of  a  great  free  republic  based  upon 
traditions  of  personal  liberty  which  theretofore  had  been 
confined  to  a  single  little  island,  but  which  it  was  pur 
posed  should  spread  to  all  mankind.  And  the  singular 
fascination  of  American  history  is  that  it  has  been  a 


108          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

process  of  constant  re-creation,  of  making  over  again 
in  each  generation  the  thing  which  was  conceived  at 
first.  You  know  how  peculiarly  necessary  that  has  been 
in  our  case,  because  America  has  not  grown  by  the  mere 
multiplication  of  the  original  stock.  It  is  easy  to  pre 
serve  tradition  with  continuity  of  blood;  it  is  easy  in  a 
single  family  to  remember  the  origins  of  the  race  and 
the  purposes  of  its  organization;  but  it  is  not  so  easy 
when  that  race  is  constantly  being  renewed  and  aug 
mented  from  other  sources,  from  stocks  that  did  not 
carry  or  originate  the  same  principles. 

So  from  generation  to  generation  strangers  have  had 
to  be  indoctrinated  with  the  principles  of  the  American 
family,  and  the  wonder  and  the  beauty  of  it  all  has  been 
that  the  infection  has  been  so  generously  easy.  For  the 
principles  of  liberty  are  united  with  the  principles  of 
hope.  Every  individual,  as  well  as  every  Nation,  wishes 
to  realize  the  best  thing  that  is  in  him,  the  best  thing 
that  can  be  conceived  out  of  the  materials  of  which  his 
spirit  is  constructed.  It  has  happened  in  a  way  that 
fascinates  the  imagination  that  we  have  not  only  been 
augmented  by  additions  from  outside,  but  that  we  have 
been  greatly  stimulated  by  those  additions.  Living  in 
the  easy  prosperity  of  a  free  people,  knowing  that  the 
sun  had  always  been  free  to  shine  upon  us  and  prosper 
our  undertakings,  we  did  not  realize  how  hard  the  task 
of  liberty  is  and  how  rare  the  privilege  of  liberty  is; 
but  men  were  drawn  out  of  every  climate  and  out  of 
every  race  because  of  an  irresistible  attraction  of  their 
spirits  to  the  American  ideal.  They  thought  of  America 
as  lifting,  like  that  great  statue  in  the  harbor  of  New 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  109 

York,  a  torch  to  light  the  pathway  of  men  to  the  things 
that  they  desire,  and  men  of  all  sorts  and  conditions 
struggled  toward  that  light  and  came  to  our  shores  with 
an  eager  desire  to  realize  it,  and  a  hunger  for  it  such  as 
some  of  us  no  longer  felt,  for  we  were  as  if  satiated  and 
satisfied  and  were  indulging  ourselves  after  a  fashion 
that  did  not  belong  to  the  ascetic  devotion  of  the  early 
devotees  of  those  great  principles.  Strangers  came  to 
remind  us  of  what  we  had  promised  ourselves  and 
through  ourselves  had  promised  mankind.  All  men 
came  to  us  and  said,  "  Where  is  the  bread  of  life  with 
which  you  promised  to  feed  us,  and  have  you  partaken 
of  it  yourselves  ?"  For  my  part,  I  believe  that  the  con 
stant  renewal  of  this  people  out  of  foreign  stocks  has 
been  a  constant  source  of  reminder  to  this  people  of 
what  the  inducement  was  that  was  offered  to  men  who 
would  come  and  be  of  our  number. 

Now  we  have  come  to  a  time  of  special  stress  and 
test.  There  never  was  a  time  when  we  needed  more 
clearly  to  conserve  the  principles  of  our  own  patriotism 
than  this  present  time.  The  rest  of  the  world  from 
which  our  polities  were  drawn  seems  for  the  time  in  the 
crucible  and  no  man  can  predict  what  will  come  out  of 
that  crucible.  We  stand  apart,  unembroiied,  conscious 
of  our  own  principles,  conscious  of  what  we  hope  and 
purpose,  so  far  as  our  powers  permit,  for  the  world  at 
large,  and  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  consolidate 
the  American  principle.  Every  political  action,  every 
social  action,  should  have  for  its  object  in  America  at 
this  time  to  challenge  the  spirit  of  America;  to  ask 
that  every  man  and  woman  who  thinks  first  of  America 


110          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

should  rally  to  the  standards  of  our  life.  There  have 
been  some  among  us  who  have  not  thought  first  of 
America,  who  have  thought  to  use  the  might  of  America 
in  some  matter  not  of  America's  origination.  They  have 
forgotten  that  the  first  duty  of  a  nation  is  to  express 
its  own  individual  principles  in  the  action  of  the  family 
of  nations  and  not  to  seek  to  aid  and  abet  any  rival  or 
contrary  ideal. 

Neutrality  is  a  negative  word.  It  is  a  word  that  does 
not  express  what  America  ought  to  feel.  America  has 
a  heart  and  that  heart  throbs  with  all  sorts  of  intense 
sympathies,  but  America  has  schooled  its  heart  to  love 
the  things  that  America  believes  in  and  it  ought  to 
devote  itself  only  to  the  things  that  America  believes 
in ;  and,  believing  that  America  stands  apart  in  its  ideals, 
it  ought  not  to  allow  itself  to  be  drawn,  so  far  as  its 
heart  is  concerned,  into  anybody's  quarrel.  Not  because 
it  does  not  understand  the  quarrel,  not  because  it  does 
not  in  its  head  assess  the  merits  of  the  controversy,  but 
because  America  has  promised  the  world  to  stand  apart 
and  maintain  certain  principles  of  action  which  are 
grounded  in  law  and  in  justice.  We  are  not  trying  to 
keep  out  of  trouble ;  we  are  trying  to  preserve  the  foun 
dations  upon  which  peace  can  be  rebuilt.  Peace  can  be 
rebuilt  only  upon  the  ancient  and  accepted  principles 
of  international  law,  only  upon  those  things  which  re 
mind  nations  of  their  duties  to  each  other,  and,  deeper 
than  that,  of  their  duties  to  mankind  and  to  humanity. 

America  has  a  great  cause  which  is  not  confined  to 
the  American  continent.  It  is  the  cause  of  humanity 
itself.  I  do  not  mean  in  anything  that  I  say  even  to 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  111 

imply  a  judgment  upon  any  nation  or  upon  any  policy, 
for  my  object  here  this  afternoon  is  not  to  sit  in  judg 
ment  upon  anybody  but  ourselves  and  to  challenge  you 
to  assist  all  of  us  who  are  trying  to  make  America  more 
than  ever  conscious  of  her  own  principles  and  her  own 
duty.  I  look  forward  to  the  necessity  in  every  political 
agitation  in  the  years  which  are  immediately  at  hand 
of  calling  upon  every  man  to  declare  himself,  where 
he  stands.  Is  it  America  first  or  is  it  not? 

We  ought  to  be  very  careful  about  some  of  the  im 
pressions  that  we  are  forming  just  now.  There  is  too 
general  an  impression,  I  fear,  that  very  large  numbers 
of  our  fellow-citizens  born  in  other  lands  have  not  enter 
tained  with  sufficient  intensity  and  affection  the  Ameri 
can  ideal.  But  the  number  of  such  is,  I  am  sure,  not 
large.  Those  who  would  seek  to  represent  them  are 
very  vocal,  but  they  are  not  very  influential.  Some  of 
the  best  stuff  of  America  has  come  out  of  foreign  lands, 
and  some  of  the  best  stuff  in  America  is  in  the  men  who 
are  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States.  I  would 
not  be  afraid  upon  the  test  of  "America  first"  to  take 
a  census  of  all  the  foreign-born  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  for  I  know  that  the  vast  majority  of  them  came 
here  because  they  believed  in  America ;  and  their  belief 
in  America  has  made  them  better  citizens  than  some 
people  who  were  born  in  America.  They  can  say  that 
they  have  bought  this  privilege  with  a  great  price.  They 
have  left  their  homes,  they  have  left  their  kindred,  they 
have  broken  all  the  nearest  and  dearest  ties  of  human 
life  in  order  to  come  to  a  new  land,  take  a  new  rootage, 
begin  a  new  life,  and  so  by  self-sacrifice  express  their 


PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

confidence  in  a  new  principle;  whereas,  it  cost  us  none 
of  these  things.  We  were  born  into  this  privilege;  we 
were  rocked  and  cradled  in  it ;  we  did  nothing  to  create 
it;  and  it  is,  therefore,  the  greater  duty  on  our  part  to 
do  a  great  deal  to  enhance  it  and  preserve  it.  I  am  not 
deceived  as  to  the  balance  of  opinion  among  the  foreign- 
born  citizens  of  the  United  States,  but  I  am  in  a  hurry 
for  an  opportunity  to  have  a  line-up  and  let  the  men 
who  are  thinking  first  of  other  countries  stand  on  one 
side  and  all  those  that  are  for  America  first,  last,  and  all 
the  time  on  the  other  side. 

Now,  you  can  do  a  great  deal  in  this  direction.  When 
I  was  a  college  officer  I  used  to  be  very  much  opposed 
to  hazing;  not  because  hazing  is  not  wholesome,  but 
because  sophomores  are  poor  judges.  I  remember  a  very 
dear  friend  of  mine,  a  professor  of  ethics  on  the  other 
side  of  the  water,  was  asked  if  he  thought  it  was  ever 
justifiable  to  tell  a  lie.  He  said  Yes,  he  thought  it  was 
sometimes  justifiable  to  lie;  "but,"  he  said,  "it  is  so 
difficult  to  judge  of  the  justification  that  I  usually  tell 
the  truth."  I  think  that  ought  to  be  the  motto  of  the 
sophomore.  There  are  freshmen  who  need  to  be  hazed, 
but  the  need  is  to  be  judged  by  such  nice  tests  that  a 
sophomore  is  hardly  old  enough  to  determine  them.  But 
the  world  can  determine  them.  We  are  not  freshmen  at 
college,  but  we  are  constantly  hazed.  I  would  a  great 
deal  rather  be  obliged  to  draw  pepper  up  my  nose  than 
to  observe  the  hostile  glances  of  my  neighbors.  I  would 
a  great  deal  rather  be  beaten  than  ostracized.  I  would 
a  great  deal  rather  endure  any  sort  of  physical  hard 
ship  if  I  might  have  the  affection  of  my  fellow-men. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  113 

constantly  discipline  our  fellow-citizens  by  having 
an  opinion  about  them.  That  is  the  sort  of  discipline  we 
ought  now  to  administer  to  everybody  who  is  not  to  the 
very  core  of  his  heart  an  American.  Just  have  an 
opinion  about  him  and  let  him  experience  the  atmos 
pheric  effects  of  that  opinion!  And  I  know  of  no  body 
of  persons  comparable  to  a  body  of  ladies  for  creating 
an  atmosphere  of  opinion !  I  have  myself  in  part  yielded 
to  the  influence  of  that  atmosphere,  though  it  took  me 
a  long  time  to  determine  how  I  was  going  to  vote  in 
New  Jersey. 

So  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  my  privilege  this  after 
noon  was  not  merely  a  privilege  of  courtesy,  but  the 
real  privilege  of  reminding  you — for  I  am  sure  I  am 
doing  nothing  more — of  the  great  principles  which  we 
stand  associated  to  promote.  I  for  my  part  rejoice  that 
we  belong  to  a  country  in  which  the  whole  business  of 
government  is  so  difficult.  We  do  not  take  orders  from 
anybody ;  it  is  a  universal  communication  of  conviction, 
the  most  subtle,  delicate,  and  difficult  of  processes. 
There  is  not  a  single  individual's  opinion  that  is  not 
of  some  consequence  in  making  up  the  grand  total,  and 
to  be  in  this  great  co-operative  effort  is  the  most  stimu 
lating  thing  in  the  world.  A  man  standing  alone  may 
well  misdoubt  his  own  judgment.  He  may  mistrust  his 
own  intellectual  processes;  he  may  even  wonder  if  his 
own  heart  leads  him  right  in  matters  of  public  conduct ; 
but  if  he  finds  his  heart  part  of  the  great  throb  of  a 
national  life,  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  it.  If  that  is 
his  happy  circumstance,  then  he  may  know  that  he  is 
part  of  one  of  the  great  forces  of  the  world. 


114          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

I  would  not  feel  any  exhilaration  in  belonging  to 
America  if  I  did  not  feel  that  she  was  something  more 
than  a  rich  and  powerful  nation.  I  should  not  feel 
proud  to  he  in  some  respects  and  for  a  little  while  her 
spokesman  if  I  did  not  believe  that  there  was  some 
thing  else  than  physical  force  behind  her.  I  believe  that 
the  glory  of  America  is  that  she  is  a  great  spiritual  con 
ception  and  that  in  the  spirit  of  her  institutions  dwells 
not  only  her  distinction  but  her  power.  The  one  thing 
that  the  world  cannot  permanently  resist  is  the  moral 
force  of  great  and  triumphant  convictions. 


ADDRESS    ON    POLITICAL    RELATIONS    AT 
THE    FIFTIETH    ANNIVERSARY    DIN 
NER  OF   THE   MANHATTAN   CLUB, 
NEW  YORK  CITY,  NOVEMBER 
4,  1915 

ME.    TOASTMASTER    AND    GENTLEMEN: 

I  warmly  felicitate  the  club  upon  the  completion  of 
fifty  years  of  successful  and  interesting  life.  Club  life 
may  be  made  to  mean  a  great  deal  to  those  who  know 
how  to  use  it.  I  have  no  doubt  that  to  a  great  many  of 
you  has  come  genuine  stimulation  in  the  associations  of 
this  place  and  that  as  the  years  have  multiplied  you  have 
seen  more  and  more  the  useful  ends  which  may  be  served 
by  organizations  of  this  sort. 

But  I  have  not  come  to  speak  wholly  of  that,  for 
there  are  others  of  your  own  members  who  can  speak 
of  the  club  with  a  knowledge  and  an  intelligence  which 
no  one  can  have  who  has  not  been  intimately  associated 
with  it.  Men  band  themselves  together  for  the  sake  of 
the  association  no  doubt,  but  also  for  something  greater 
and  deeper  than  that, — because  they  are  conscious  of 
common  interests  lying  outside  their  business  occupa 
tions,  because  they  are  members  of  the  same  community 
and  in  frequent  intercourse  find  mutual  stimulation  and 
a  real  maximum  of  vitality  and  power.  I  shall  assume 
that  here  around  the  dinner  table  on  this  memorable 
occasion  our  talk  should  properly  turn  to  the  wide  and 
common  interests  which  are  most  in  our  thoughts, 

115 


116          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

whether  they  be  the  interests  of  the  community  or  of 
the  nation. 

A  year  and  a  half  ago  our  thought  would  have  been 
almost  altogether  of  great  domestic  questions.  They  are 
many  and  of  vital  consequence.  We  must  and  shall 
address  ourselves  to  their  solution  with  diligence,  firm 
ness,  and  self-possession,  notwithstanding  we  find  our 
selves  in  the  midst  of  a  world  disturbed  by  great  dis 
aster  and  ablaze  with  terrible  war;  but  our  thought  is 
now  inevitably  of  new  things  about  which  formerly  we 
gave  ourselves  little  concern.  We  are  thinking  now 
chiefly  of  our  relations  with  the  rest  of  the  world, — not 
our  commercial  relations, — about  those  we  have  thought 
and  planned  always, — but  about  our  political  relations, 
our  duties  as  an  individual  and  independent  force  in 
the  world  to  ourselves,  our  neighbors,  and  the  world 
itself. 

Our  principles  are  well  known.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  avow  them  again.  We  believe  in  political  liberty  and 
founded  our  great  government  to  obtain  it,  the  liberty 
of  men  and  of  peoples, — of  men  to  choose  their  own 
lives  and  of  peoples  to  choose  their  own  allegiance.  Our 
ambition,  also,  all  the  world  has  knowledge  of.  It  is 
not  only  to  be  free  and  prosperous  ourselves,  but  also 
to  be  the  friend  and  thoughtful  partisan  of  those  who 
are  free  or  who  desire  freedom  the  world  over.  If  we 
have  had  aggressive  purposes  and  covetous  ambitions, 
they  were  the  fruit  of  our  thoughtless  youth  as  a  nation 
and  we  have  put  them  aside.  We  shall,  I  confidently 
believe,  never  again  take  another  foot  of  territory  by 
conquest.  We  shall  never  in  any  circumstances  seek  to 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  117 

make  an  independent  people  subject  to  our  dominion; 
because  we  believe,  we  passionately  believe,  in  the  right 
of  every  people  to  choose  their  own  allegiance  and  be 
free  of  masters  altogether.  For  ourselves  we  wish  noth 
ing  but  the  full  liberty  of  self-development;  and  with 
ourselves  in  this  great  matter  we  associate  all  the  peo 
ples  of  our  own  hemisphere.  We  wish  not  only  for  the 
United  States  but  for  them  the  fullest  freedom  of  inde 
pendent  growth  and  of  action,  for  we  know  that  through 
out  this  hemisphere  the  same  aspirations  are  everywhere 
being  worked  out,  under  diverse  conditions  but  with  the 
same  impulse  and  ultimate  object. 

All  this  is  very  clear  to  us  and  will,  I  confidently 
predict,  become  more  and  more  clear  to  the  whole  world 
as  the  great  processes  of  the  future  unfold  themselves. 
It  is  with  a  full  consciousness  of  such  principles  and 
such  ambitions  that  we  are  asking  ourselves  at  the  pres 
ent  time  what  our  duty  is  with  regard  to  the  armed 
force  of  the  nation.  Within  a  year  we  have  witnessed 
what  we  did  not  believe  possible,  a  great  European  con 
flict  involving  many  of  the  greatest  nations  of  the  world. 
The  influences  of  a  great  war  are  everywhere  in  the  air. 
All  Europe  is  embattled.  Force  everywhere  speaks  out 
with  a  loud  and  imperious  voice  in  a  titanic  struggle 
of  governments,  and  from  one  end  of  our  own  dear 
country  to  the  other  men  are  asking  one  another  what 
our  own  force  is,  how  far  we  are  prepared  to  maintain 
ourselves  against  any  interference  with  our  national 
action  or  development. 

In  no  man's  mind,  I  am  sure,  is  there  even  raised 
the  question  of  the  willful  use  of  force  on  our  part 


118          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

against  any  nation  or  any  people.  No  matter  what 
military  or  naval  force  the  United  States  might  develop, 
statesmen  throughout  the  whole  world  might  rest  assured 
that  we  were  gathering  that  force,  not  for  attack  in  any 
quarter,  not  for  aggression  of  any  kind,  not  for  the 
satisfaction  of  any  political  or  international  ambition, 
but  merely  to  make  sure  of  our  own  security.  We  have 
it  in  mind  to  be  prepared,  not  for  war,  but  only  for 
defense;  and  with  the  thought  constantly  in  our  minds 
that  the  principles  we  hold  most  dear  can  be  achieved 
by  the  slow  processes  of  history  only  in  the  kindly  and 
wholesome  atmosphere  of  peace,  and  not  by  the  use  of 
hostile  force.  The  mission  of  America  in  the  world  is 
essentially  a  mission  of  peace  and  good  will  among  men. 
She  has  become  the  home  and  asylum  of  men  of  all 
creeds  and  races.  Within  her  hospitable  borders  they 
have  found  homes  and  congenial  associations  and  free 
dom  and  a  wide  and  cordial  welcome,  and  they  have 
become  part  of  the  bone  and  sinew  and  spirit  of  America 
itself.  America  has  been  made  up  out  of  the  nations 
of  the  world  and  is  the  friend  of  the  nations  of  the 
world. 

But  we  feel  justified  in  preparing  ourselves  to  vindi 
cate  our  right  to  independent  and  unmolested  action 
by  making  the  force  that  is  in  us  ready  for  asser 
tion. 

And  we  know  that  we  can  do  this  in  a  way  that  will 
be  itself  an  illustration  of  the  American  spirit.  In 
accordance  with  our  American  traditions  we  want  and 
shall  work  for  only  an  army  adequate  to  the  constant 
and  legitimate  uses  of  times  of  international  peace. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  119 

But  we  do  want  to  feel  that  there  is  a  great  body  of 
citizens  who  have  received  at  least  the  most  rudimentary 
and  necessary  forms  of  military  training ;  that  they  will 
be  ready  to  form  themselves  into  a  fighting  force  at  the 
call  of  the  nation;  and  that  the  nation  has  the  muni 
tions  and  supplies  with  which  to  equip  them  without 
delay  should  it  be  necessary  to  call  them  into  action. 
We  wish  to  supply  them  with  the  training  they  need, 
and  we  think  we  can  do  so  without  calling  them 
at  any  time  too  long  away  from  their  civilian  pur 
suits. 

It  is  with  this  idea,  with  this  conception,  in  mind  that  v 
the  plans  have  been  made  which  it  will  be  my  privilege 
to  lay  before  the  Congress  at  its  next  session.  That  plan 
calls  for  only  such  an  increase  in  the  regular  Army  of 
the  United  States  as  experience  has  proved  to  be  re 
quired  for  the  performance  of  the  necessary  duties  of 
the  Army  in  the  Philippines,  in  Hawaii,  in  Porto  Rico, 
upon  the  borders  of  the  United  States,  at  the  coast  forti 
fications,  and  at  the  military  posts  of  the  interior.  For 
the  rest,  it  calls  for  the  training  within  the  next  three 
years  of  a  force  of  400,000  citizen  soldiers  to  be  raised 
in  annual  contingents  of  133,000,  who  would  be  asked 
to  enlist  for  three  years  with  the  colors  and  three  years 
on  furlough,  but  who  during  their  three  years  of  enlist 
ment  with  the  colors  would  not  be  organized  as  a  stand 
ing  force  but  would  be  expected  merely  to  undergo  inten 
sive  training  for  a  very  brief  period  of  each  year.  Their 
training  would  take  place  in  immediate  association  with 
the  organized  units  of  the  regular  Army.  It  would  have 
no  touch  of  the  amateur  about  it,  neither  would  it  exact 


120          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

of  the  volunteers  more  than  they  could  give  in  any  one 
year  from  their  civilian  pursuits. 

And  none  of  this  would  be  done  in  such  a  way  as 
in  the  slightest  degree  to  supersede  or  subordinate  our 
present  serviceable  and  efficient  National  Guard.  On 
the  contrary,  the  National  Guard  itself  would  be  used  as 
part  of  the  instrumentality  by  which  training  would  be 
given  the  citizens  who  enlisted  under  the  new  conditions, 
and  I  should  hope  and  expect  that  the  legislation  by 
which  all  this  would  be  accomplished  would  put  the 
National  Guard  itself  upon  a  better  and  more  perma 
nent  footing  than  it  has  ever  been  before,  giving  it  not 
only  the  recognition  which  it  deserves,  but  a  more 
definite  support  from  the  national  government  and  a 
more  definite  connection  with  the  military  organization 
of  the  nation. 

What  we  all  wish  to  accomplish  is  that  the  forces 
of  the  nation  should  indeed  be  part  of  the  nation  and 
not  a  separate  professional  force,  and  the  chief  cost  of 
the  system  would  not  be  in  the  enlistment  or  in  the 
training  of  the  men,  but  in  the  providing  of  ample 
equipment  in  case  it  should  be  necessary  to  call  all  forces 
into  the  field. 

Moreover,  it  has  been  American  policy  time  out  of 
mind  to  look  to  the  Navy  as  the  first  and  chief  line  of 
defense.  The  Navy  of  the  United  States  is  already  a 
very  great  and  efficient  force.  Not  rapidly,  but  slowly, 
with  careful  attention,  our  naval  force  has  been  devel 
oped  until  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  stands  recog 
nized  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  notable  of  the 
modern  time.  All  that  is  needed  in  order  to  bring  it 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  121 

to  a  point  of  extraordinary  force  and  efficiency  as  com 
pared  with  the  other  navies  of  the  world  is  that  we 
should  hasten  our  pace  in  the  policy  we  have  long  been 
pursuing,  and  that  chief  of  all  we  should  have  a  definite 
policy  of  development,  not  made  from  year  to  year  but 
looking  well  into  the  future  and  planning  for  a  definite 
consummation.  We  can  and  should  profit  in  all  that  we 
do  by  the  experience  and  example  that  have  been  made 
obvious  to  us  by  the  military  and  naval  events  of  the 
actual  present.  It  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  building 
battleships  and  cruisers  and  submarines,  but  also  a  mat 
ter  of  making  sure  that  we  shall  have  the  adequate 
equipment  of  men  and  munitions  and  supplies  for  the 
vessels  we  build  and  intend  to  build.  Part  of  our  prob 
lem  is  the  problem  of  what  I  may  call  the  mobilization 
of  the  resources  of  the  nation  at  the  proper  time  if  it 
should  ever  be  necessary  to  mobilize  them  for  national 
defense.  We  shall  study  efficiency  and  adequate  equip 
ment  as  carefully  as  we  shall  study  the  number  and 
size  of  our  ships,  and  I  believe  that  the  plans  already 
in  part  made  public  by  the  Navy  Department  are  plans 
which  the  whole  nation  can  approve  with  rational  en 
thusiasm. 

No  thoughtful  man  feels  any  panic  haste  in  this  mat 
ter.  The  country  is  not  threatened  from  any  quarter. 
She  stands  in  friendly  relations  with  all  the  world.  Her 
resources  are  known  and  her  self-respect  and  her  capac 
ity  to  care  for  her  own  citizens  and  her  own  rights. 
There  is  no  fear  amongst  us.  Under  the  new-world 
conditions  we  have  become  thoughtful  of  the  things 
which  all  reasonable  men  consider  necessary  for  secur- 


122          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

ity  and  self-defense  on  the  part  of  every  nation  con 
fronted  with  the  great  enterprise  of  human  liberty  and 
independence.  That  is  all. 

Is  the  plan  we  propose  sane  and  reasonable  and 
suited  to  the  needs  of  the  hour?  Does  it  not  conform 
to  the  ancient  traditions  of  America?  Has  any  better 
plan  been  proposed  than  this  program  that  we  now 
place  before  the  country?  In  it  there  is  no  pride  of 
opinion.  It  represents  the  best  professional  and  expert 
judgment  of  the  country.  But  I  am  not  so  much  inter 
ested  in  programs  as  I  am  in  safeguarding  at  every 
cost  the  good  faith  and  honor  of  the  country.  If  men 
differ  with  me  in  this  vital  matter,  I  shall  ask  them  to 
make  it  clear  how  far  and  in  what  way  they  are  inter 
ested  in  making  the  permanent  interests  of  the  country 
safe  against  disturbance. 

In  the  fulfillment  of  the  program  I  propose  I 
shall  ask  for  the  hearty  support  of  the  country,  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  America,  of  men  of  all  shades  of  politi 
cal  opinion.  For  my  position  in  this  important  matter 
is  different  from  that  of  the  private  individual  who  is 
free  to  speak  his  own  thoughts  and  to  risk  his  own 
opinions  in  this  matter.  We  are  here  dealing  with 
things  that  are  vital  to  the  life  of  America  itself.  In 
doing  this  I  have  tried  to  purge  my  heart  of  all  per 
sonal  and  selfish  motives.  For  the  time  being,  I  speak 
as  the  trustee  and  guardian  of  a  nation's  rights,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  speaking  for  that  nation  in  matters 
involving  her  sovereignty, — a  nation  too  big  and  gener 
ous  to  be  exacting  and  yet  courageous  enough  to  defend 
its  rights  and  the  liberties  of  its  people  wherever 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  123 

assailed  or  invaded.  I  would  not  feel  that  I  was  dis 
charging  the  solemn  obligation  I  owe  the  country  were 
I  not  to  speak  in  terms  of  the  deepest  solemnity  of  the 
urgency  and  necessity  of  preparing  ourselves  to  guard 
and  protect  the  rights  and  privileges  of  our  people,  our 
sacred  heritage  of  the  fathers  who  struggled  to  make  us 
an  independent  nation. 

The  only  thing  within  our  own  borders  that  has 
given  us  grave  concern  in  recent  months  has  been  that 
voices  have  been  raised  in  America  professing  to  be 
the  voices  of  Americans  which  were  not  indeed  and  in 
truth  American,  but  which  spoke  alien  sympathies, 
which  came  from  men  who  loved  other  countries  better 
than  they  loved  America,  men  who  were  partisans  of 
other  causes  than  that  of  America  and  had  forgotten 
that  their  chief  and  only  allegiance  was  to  the  great 
government  under  which  they  live.  These  voices  have 
not  been  many,  but  they  have  been  very  loud  and  very 
clamorous.  They  have  proceeded  from  a  few  who  were 
bitter  and  who  were  grievously  misled.  America  has  not 
opened  its  doors  in  vain  to  men  and  women  out  of  other 
nations.  The  vast  majority  of  those  who  have  come  to 
take  advantage  of  her  hospitality  have  united  their 
spirits  with  hers  as  well  as  their  fortunes.  These  men 
who  speak  alien  sympathies  are  not  their  spokesmen  but 
are  the  spokesmen  of  small  groups  whom  it  is  high  time 
that  the  nation  should  call  to  a  reckoning.  The  chief 
thing  necessary  in  America  in  order  that  she  should  let 
all  the  world  know  that  she  is  prepared  to  maintain  her 
own  great  position  is  that  the  real  voice  of  the  nation 
should  sound  forth  unmistakably  and  in  majestic  volume, 


124          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

in  the  deep  unison  of  a  common,  unhesitating  national 
feeling.  I  do  not  doubt  that  upon  the  first  occasion, 
upon  the  first  opportunity,  upon  the  first  definite  chal 
lenge,  that  voice  will  speak  forth  in  tones  which  no  man 
can  doubt  and  with  commands  which  no  man  dare  gain 
say  or  resist. 

May  I  not  say,  while  I  am  speaking  of  this,  that 
there  is  another  danger  that  we  should  guard  against? 
We  should  rebuke  not  only  manifestations  of  racial  feel 
ing  here  in  America  where  there  should  be  none,  but 
also  every  manifestation  of  religious  and  sectarian  an 
tagonism.  It  does  not  become  America  that  within  her 
borders,  where  every  man  is  free  to  follow  the  dictates 
of  his  conscience  and  worship  God  as  he  pleases,  men 
should  raise  the  cry  of  church  against  church.  To  do 
that  is  to  strike  at  the  very  spirit  and  heart  of  America. 
We  are  a  God-fearing  people.  We  agree  to  differ  about 
methods  of  worship,  but  we  are  united  in  believing  in 
Divine  Providence  and  in  worshiping  the  God  of 
Nations.  We  are  the  champions  of  religious  right  here 
and  everywhere  that  it  may  be  our  privilege  to  give  it 
our  countenance  and  support.  The  government  is  con 
scious  of  the  obligation  and  the  nation  is  conscious  of 
the  obligation.  Let  no  man  create  divisions  where  there 
are  none. 

Here  is  the  nation  God  has  builded  by  our  hands. 
What  shall  we  do  with  it?  Who  is  there  who  does  not 
stand  ready  at  all  times  to  act  in  her  behalf  in  a  spirit 
of  devoted  and  disinterested  patriotism?  We  are  yet 
only  in  the  youth  and  first  consciousness  of  our  power. 
The  day  of  our  country's  life  is  still  but  in  its  fresh 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  125 

morning.  Let  us  lift  our  eyes  to  the  great  tracts  of 
life  yet  to  be  conquered  in  the  interests  of  righteous 
peace.  Come,  let  us  renew  our  allegiance  to  America, 
conserve  her  strength  in  its  purity,  make  her  chief 
among  those  who  serve  mankind,  self-reverenced,  self- 
commanded,  mistress  of  all  forces  of  quiet  counsel, 
strong  above  all  others  in  good  will  and  the  might  of 
invincible  justice  and  right. 


THIRD  ANNUAL  ADDRESS  DELIVERED   AT 

A  JOINT  SESSION  OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES 

OF  CONGRESS,  DECEMBER  7,  1915 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

Since  I  last  had  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  on 
the  state  of  the  Union  the  war  of  nations  on  the  other 
side  of  the  sea,  which  had  then  only  begun  to  disclose 
its  portentous  proportions,  has  extended  its  threatening 
and  sinister  scope  until  it  has  swept  within  its  flame 
some  portion  of  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  not  except 
ing  our  own  hemisphere,  has  altered  the  whole  face  of 
international  affairs,  and  now  presents  a  prospect  of 
reorganization  and  reconstruction  such  as  statesmen  and 
peoples  have  never  been  called  upon  to  attempt  before. 

We  have  stood  apart,  studiously  neutral.  It  was  our 
manifest  duty  to  do  so.  Not  only  did  we  have  no  part 
or  interest  in  the  policies  which  seem  to  have  brought 
the  conflict  on;  it  was  necessary,  if  a  universal  catas 
trophe  was  to  be  avoided,  that  a  limit  should  be  set  to 
the  sweep  of  destructive  war  and  that  some  part  of  the 
great  family  of  nations  should  keep  the  processes  of 
peace  alive,  if  only  to  prevent  collective  economic  ruin 
and  the  breakdown  throughout  the  world  of  the  indus 
tries  by  which  its  populations  are  fed  and  sustained. 
It  was  manifestly  the  duty  of  the  self -governed  nations 
of  this  hemisphere  to  redress,  if  possible,  the  balance  of 
economic  loss  and  confusion  in  the  other,  if  they  could 

126 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  127 

do  nothing  more.  In  the  day  of  readjustment  and  re 
cuperation  we  earnestly  hope  and  believe  that  they  can 
be  of  infinite  service. 

In  this  neutrality,  to  which  they  were  bidden  not 
only  by  their  separate  life  and  their  habitual  detach 
ment  from  the  politics  of  Europe  but  also  by  a  clear 
perception  of  international  duty,  the  states  of  America 
have  become  conscious  of  a  new  and  more  vital  com 
munity  of  interest  and  moral  partnership  in  affairs, 
more  clearly  conscious  of  the  many  common  sympathies 
and  interests  and  duties  which  bid  them  stand  together. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  early  days  of  our  own  great 
nation  and  of  the  republics  fighting  their  way  to  inde 
pendence  in  Central  and  South  America  when  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  looked  upon  itself  as  in 
some  sort  the  guardian  of  the  republics  to  the  south  of 
her  as  against  any  encroachments  or  efforts  at  political 
control  from  the  other  side  of  the  water ;  felt  it  its  duty 
to  play  the  part  even  without  invitation  from  them; 
and  I  think  that  we  can  claim  that  the  task  was  under 
taken  with  a  true  and  disinterested  enthusiasm  for  the 

/ 

freedom  of  the  Americas  and  the  unmolested  self- 
government  of  her  independent  peoples.  But  it  was 
always  difficult  to  maintain  such  a  role  without  offense 
to  the  pride  of  the  peoples  whose  freedom  of  action  we 
sought  to  protect,  and  without  provoking  serious  mis 
conceptions  of  our  motives,  and  every  thoughtful  man 
of  affairs  must  welcome  the  altered  circumstances  of 
the  new  day  in  whose  light  we  now  stand,  when  there 
is  no  claim  of  guardianship  or  thought  of  wards  but, 
instead,  a  full  and  honorable  association  as  of  partners 


128          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

between  ourselves  and  our  neighbors,  in  the  interest  of 
all  America,  north  and  south.  Our  concern  for  the  inde 
pendence  and  prosperity  of  the  states  of  Central  and 
South  America  is  not  altered.  We  retain  unabated  the 
spirit  that  has  inspired  us  throughout  the  whole  life 
of  our  government  and  which  was  so  frankly  put  into 
words  by  President  Monroe.  We  still  mean  always  to 
make  a  common  cause  of  national  independence  and  of 
political  liberty  in  America.  But  that  purpose  is  now 
better  understood  so  far  as  it  -concerns  ourselves.  It  is 
known  not  to  be  a  selfish  purpose.  It  is  known  to  have 
in  it  no  thought  of  taking  advantage  of  any  govern 
ment  in  this  hemisphere  or  playing  its  political  fortunes 
for  our  own  benefit.  All  the  governments  of  America 
stand,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  upon  a  footing  of 
genuine  equality  and  unquestioned  independence. 

We  have  been  put  to  the  test  in  the  case  of  Mexico, 
and  we  have  stood  the  test.  Whether  we  have  benefited 
Mexico  by  the  course  we  have  pursued  remains  to  be 
seen.  Her  fortunes  are  in  her  own  hands.  But  we  have 
at  least  proved  that  we  will  not  take  advantage  of  her 
in  her  distress  and  undertake  to  impose  upon  her  an 
order  and  government  of  our  own  choosing.  "  Liberty  is 
often  a  fierce  and  intractable  thing,  to  which  no  bounds 
can  be  set,  and  to  which  no  bounds  of  a  few  men's 
choosing  ought  ever  to  be  set.  Every  American  who 
has  drunk  at  the  true  fountains  of  principle  and  tradi 
tion  must  subscribe  without  reservation  to  the  high  doc 
trine  of  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Eights,  which  in  the  great 
days  in  which  our  government  was  set  up  was  every 
where  amongst  us  accepted  as  the  creed  of  free  men. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  129 

That  doctrine  is,  "That  government  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
instituted  for  the  Common  benefit,  protection,  and  secur 
ity  of  the  people,  nation,  or  community;"  that  "of  all 
the  various  modes  and  forms  of  government,  that  is  the 
best  which  is  capable  of  producing  the  greatest  degree 
of  happiness  and  safety,  and  is  most  effectually  secured 
against  the  danger  of  maladministration ;  and  that,  when 
any  government  shall  be  found  inadequate  or  contrary 
to  these  purposes,  a  majority  of  the  community  hath 
an  indubitable,  inalienable,  and  indefeasible  right  to 
reform,  alter,  or  abolish  it,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be 
judged  most  conducive  to  the  public  weal."  We  have 
unhesitatingly  applied  that  heroic  principle  to  the  case 
of  Mexico,  and  now  hopefully  await  the  rebirth  of  the 
troubled  Republic,  which  had  so  much  of  which  to  purge 
itself  and  so  little  sympathy  from  any  outside  quarter 
in  the  radical  but  necessary  process.  We  will  aid  and 
befriend  Mexico,  but  we  will  not  coerce  her;  and  our 
course  with  regard  to  her  ought  to  be  sufficient  proof 
to  all  America  that  we  seek  no  political  suzerainty  or 
selfish  control. 

The  moral  is,  that  the  states  of  America  are  not 
hostile  rivals  but  co-operating  friends,  and  that  their 
growing  sense  of  community  of  interest,  alike  in  matters 
political  and  in  matters  economic,  is  likely  to  give  them 
a  new  significance  as  factors  in  international  affairs 
and  in  the  political  history  of  the  world.  It  presents 
them  as  in  a  very  deep  and  true  sense  a  unit  in  world 
affairs,  spiritual  partners,  standing  together  because 
thinking  together,  quick  with  common  sympathies  and 
common  ideals.  Separated  they  are  subject  to  all  the 


130          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

cross  currents  of  the  confused  politics  of  a  world  of 
hostile  rivalries;  united  in  spirit  and  purpose  they  can 
not  be  disappointed  of  their  peaceful  destiny. 

This  is  Pan- Americanism.  It  has  none  of  the  spirit 
of  empire  in  it.  It  is  the  embodiment,  the  effectual  em 
bodiment,  of  the  spirit  of  law  and  independence  and 
liberty  and  mutual  service. 

A  very  notable  body  of  men  recently  met  in  the  City 
of  Washington,  at  the  invitation  and  as  the  guests  of 
this  Government,  whose  deliberations  are  likely  to  be 
looked  back  to  as  marking  a  memorable  turning-point 
in  the  history  of  America.  They  were  representative 
spokesmen  of  the  several  independent  states  of  this 
hemisphere  and  were  assembled  to  discuss  the  financial 
and  commercial  relations  of  the  republics  of  the  two 
continents  which  nature  and  political  fortune  have  so 
intimately  linked  together.  I  earnestly  recommend  to 
your  perusal  the  reports  of  their  proceedings  and  of 
the  actions  of  their  committees.  You  will  get  from 
them,  I  think,  a  fresh  conception  of  the  ease  and  intelli 
gence  and  advantage  with  which  Americans  of  both  con 
tinents  may  draw  together  in  practical  co-operation  and 
of  what  the  material  foundations  of  this  hopeful  partner 
ship  of  interest  must  consist, — of  how  we  should  build 
them  and  of  how  necessary  it  is  that  we  should  hasten 
their  building. 

There  is,  I  venture  to  point  out,  an  especial  sig 
nificance  just  now  attaching  to  this  whole  matter  of 
drawing  the  Americas  together  in  bonds  of  honorable 
partnership  and  mutual  advantage  because  of  the  eco 
nomic  readjustments  which  the  world  must  inevitably 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  131 

witness  within  the  next  generation,  when  peace  shall 
have  at  last  resumed  its  healthful  tasks.  In  the  per 
formance  of  these  tasks  I  believe  the  Americas  to  be 
destined  to  play  their  parts  together.  I  am  interested 
to  fix  your  attention  on  this  prospect  now  because  unless 
you  take  it  within  your  view  and  permit  the  full  sig 
nificance  of  it  to  command  your  thought  I  cannot  find 
the  right  light  in  which  to  set  forth  the  particular  mat 
ter  that  lies  at  the  very  front  of  my  whole  thought  as 
I  address  you  to-day.  I  mean  national  defense. 

No  one  who  really  comprehends  the  spirit  of  the 
great  people  for  whom  we  are  appointed  to  speak  can 
fail  to  perceive  that  their  passion  is  for  peace,  their 
genius  best  displayed  in  the  practice  of  the  arts  of  peace. 
Great  democracies  are  not  belligerent.  They  do  not  seek 
or  desire  war.  Their  thought  is  of  individual  liberty 
and  of  the  free  labor  that  supports  life  and  the  uncen- 
sored  thought  that  quickens  it.  Conquest  and  dominion 
are  not  in  our  reckoning,  or  agreeable  to  our  principles. 
But  just  because  we  demand  unmolested  development 
and  the  undisturbed  government  of  our  own  lives  upon 
our  own  principles  of  right  and  liberty,  we  resent,  from 
whatever  quarter  it  may  come,  the  aggression  we  our 
selves  will  not  practice.  We  insist  upon  security  in 
prosecuting  our  self-chosen  lines  of  national  develop 
ment.  We  do  more  than  that.  We  demand  it  also  for 
others.  We  do  not  confine  our  enthusiasm  for  indi 
vidual  liberty  and  free  national  development  to  the 
incidents  and  movements  of  affairs  which  affect  only 
ourselves.  We  feel  it  wherever  there  is  a  people  that 
tries  to  walk  in  these  difficult  paths  of  independence 


132          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  right.  From  the  first  we  have  made  common  cause 
with  all  partisans  of  liberty  on  this  side  the  sea,  and 
have  deemed  it  as  important  that  our  neighbors  should 
be  free  from  all  outside  domination  as  that  we  ourselves 
should  be;  have  set  America  aside  as  a  whole  for  the 
uses  of  independent  nations  and  political  freemen. 

Out  of  such  thoughts  grow  all  our  policies.  We  re 
gard  war  merely  as  a  means  of  asserting  the  rights  of 
a  people  against  aggression.  And  we  are  as  fiercely 
jealous  of  coercive  or  dictatorial  power  within  our  own 
nation  as  of  aggression  from  without.  We  will  not 
maintain  a  standing  army  except  for  uses  which  are  as 
necessary  in  times  of  peace  as  in  times  of  war;  and  we 
shall  always  see  to  it  that  our  military  peace  establish 
ment  is  no  larger  than  is  actually  and  continuously 
needed  for  the  uses  of  days  in  which  no  enemies  move 
against  us.  But  we  do  believe  in  a  body  of  free  citizens 
ready  and  sufficient  to  take  care  of  themselves  and  of 
the  governments  which  they  have  set  up  to  serve  them. 
In  our  constitutions  themselves  we  have  commanded 
that  "the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms 
shall  not  be  infringed,"  and  our  confidence  has  been 
that  our  safety  in  times  of  danger  would  lie  in  the  rising 
of  the  nation  to  take  care  of  itself,  as  the  farmers  rose 
at  Lexington. 

But  war  has  never  been  a  mere  matter  of  men  and 
guns.  It  is  a  thing  of  disciplined  might.  If  our  citi 
zens  are  ever  to  fight  effectively  upon  a  sudden  sum 
mons,  they  must  know  how  modern  fighting  is  done, 
and  what  to  do  when  the  summons  comes  to  render 
themselves  immediately  available  and  immediately  effec- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  133 

tive.  And  the  government  must  be  their  servant  in  this 
matter,  must  supply  them  with  the  training  they  need 
to  take  care  of  themselves  and  of  it.  The  military  arm 
of  their  government,  which  they  will  not  allow  to  direct 
them,  they  may  properly  use  to  serve  them  and  make 
their  independence  secure, — and  not  their  own  inde 
pendence  merely  but  the  rights  also  of  those  with  whom 
they  have  made  common  cause,  should  they  also  be  put 
in  jeopardy.  They  must  be  fitted  to  play  the  great  role 
in  the  world,  and  particularly  in  this  hemisphere,  which 
they  are  qualified  by  principle  and  by  chastened  ambi 
tion  to  play. 

It  is  with  these  ideals  in  mind  that  the  plans  of  the 
Department  of  War  for  more  adequate  national  defense 
were  conceived  which  will  be  laid  before  you,  and  which 
I  urge  you  to  sanction  and  put  into  effect  as  soon  as 
they  can  be  properly  scrutinized  and  discussed.  They 
seem  to  me  the  essential  first  steps,  and  they  seem  to  me 
for  the  present  sufficient. 

They  contemplate  an  increase  of  the  standing  force 
of  the  regular  army  from  its  present  strength  of  five 
thousand  and  twenty-three  officers  and  one  hundred  and 
two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty-five  enlisted  men 
of  all  services  to  a  strength  of  seven  thousand  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty-six  officers  and  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  seven  enlisted  men, 
or  141,843,  all  told,  all  services,  rank  and  file,  by  the 
addition  of  fifty-two  companies  of  coast  artillery,  fifteen 
companies  of  engineers,  ten  regiments  of  infantry,  four 
regiments  of  field  artillery,  and  four  aero  squadrons, 
besides  seven  hundred  and  fifty  officers  required  for  a 


134          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

great  variety  of  extra  service,  especially  the  all-impor 
tant  duty  of  training  the  citizen  force  of  which  I  shall 
presently  speak,  seven  hundred  and  ninety-two  non 
commissioned  officers  for  service  in  drill,  recruiting  and 
the  like,  and  the  necessary  quota  of  enlisted  men  for 
the  Quartermaster  Corps,  the  Hospital  Corps,  the  Ord 
nance  Department,  and  other  similar  auxiliary  services. 
These  are  the  additions  necessary  to  render  the  army 
adequate  for  its  present  duties,  duties  which  it  has  to 
perform  not  only  upon  our  own  continental  coasts  and 
borders  and  at  our  interior  army  posts,  but  also  in  the 
Philippines,  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  at  the  Isthmus, 
and  in  Porto  Eico. 

By  way  of  making  the  country  ready  to  assert  some 
part  of  its  real  power  promptly  and  upon  a  larger  scale, 
should  occasion  arise,  the  plan  also  contemplates  supple 
menting  the  army  by  a  force  of  four  hundred  thousand 
disciplined  citizens,  raised  in  increments  of  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three  thousand  a  year  throughout  a  period  of 
three  years.  This  it  is  proposed  to  do  by  a  process  of 
enlistment  under  which  the  serviceable  men  of  the  coun 
try  would  be  asked  to  bind  themselves  to  serve  with  the 
colors  for  purposes  of  training  for  short  periods 
throughout  three  years,  and  to  come  to  the  colors  at 
call  at  any  time  throughout  an  additional  " furlough" 
period  of  three  years.  This  force  of  four  hundred  thou 
sand  men  would  be  provided  with  personal  accoutrements 
as  fast  as  enlisted  and  their  equipment  for  the  field  made 
ready  to  be  supplied  at  any  time.  They  would  be 
assembled  for  training  at  stated  intervals  at  convenient 
places  in  association  with  suitable  units  of  the  regular 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  135 

army.  Their  period  of  annual  training  would  not  neces 
sarily  exceed  two  months  in  the  year. 

It  would  depend  upon  the  patriotic  feeling  of  the 
younger  men  of  the  country  whether  they  responded  to 
such  a  call  to  service  or  not.  It  would  depend  upon  the 
patriotic  spirit  of  the  employers  of  the  country  whether 
they  made  it  possible  for  the  younger  men  in  their 
employ  to  respond  under  favorable  conditions  or  not. 
I,  for  one,  do  not  doubt  the  patriotic  devotion  either  of 
our  young  men  or  of  those  who  give  them  employ 
ment, — those  for  whose  benefit  and  protection  they  would 
in  fact  enlist.  I  would  look  forward  to  the  success  of 
such  an  experiment  with  entire  confidence. 

At  least  so  much  by  way  of  preparation  for  defense 
seems  to  me  to  be  absolutely  imperative  now.  We  can 
not  do  less. 

The  program  which  will  be  laid  before  you  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  is  similarly  conceived.  It  in 
volves  only  a  shortening  of  the  time  within  which  plans 
long  matured  shall  be  carried  out;  but  it  does  make 
definite  and  explicit  a  program  which  has  heretofore 
been  only  implicit,  held  in  the  minds  of  the  Commit 
tees  on  Naval  Affairs  and  disclosed  in  the  debates  of 
the  two  Houses  but  nowhere  formulated  or  formally 
adopted.  It  seems  to  me  very  clear  that  it  will  be  to  the 
advantage  of  the  country  for  the  Congress  to  adopt  a 
comprehensive  plan  for  putting  the  navy  upon  a  final 
footing  of  strength  and  efficiency  and  to  press  that  plan 
to  completion  within  the  next  five  years.  We  have 
always  looked  to  the  navy  of  the  country  as  our  first 
and  chief  line  of  defense;  we  have  always  seen  it  to  be 


136          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

our  manifest  course  of  prudence  to  be  strong  on  the 
seas.  Year  by  year  we  have  been  creating  a  navy  which 
now  ranks  very  high  indeed  among  the  navies  of  the 
maritime  nations.  We  should  now  definitely  determine 
how  we  shall  complete  what  we  have  begun,  and  how 
soon. 

The  program  to  be  laid  before  you  contemplates 
the  construction  within  five  years  of  ten  battleships, 
six  battle  cruisers,  ten  scout  cruisers,  fifty  destroyers, 
fifteen  fleet  submarines,  eighty-five  coast  submarines, 
four  gunboats,  one  hospital  ship,  two  ammunition  ships, 
two  fuel  oil  ships,  and  one  repair  ship.  It  is  proposed 
that  of  this  number  we  shall  the  first  year  provide  for 
the  construction  of  two  battleships,  two  battle  cruisers, 
three  scout  cruisers,  fifteen  destroyers,  five  fleet  sub 
marines,  twenty-five  coast  submarines,  two  gunboats, 
and  one  hospital  ship;  the  second  year,  two  battleships, 
one  scout  cruiser,  ten  destroyers,  four  fleet  submarines, 
fifteen  coast  submarines,  one  gunboat,  and  one  fuel  oil 
ship;  the  third  year,  two  battleships,  one  battle  cruiser, 
two  scout  cruisers,  five  destroyers,  two  fleet  submarines, 
and  fifteen  coast  submarines;  the  fourth  year,  two  bat 
tleships,  two  battle  cruisers,  two  scout  cruisers,  ten 
destroyers,  two  fleet  submarines,  fifteen  coast  sub 
marines,  one  ammunition  ship,  and  one  fuel  oil  ship; 
and  the  fifth  year,  two  battleships,  one  battle  cruiser, 
two  scout  cruisers,  ten  destroyers,  two  fleet  submarines, 
fifteen  coast  submarines,  one  gunboat,  one  ammunition 
ship,  and  one  repair  ship. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  is  asking  also  for  the 
immediate  addition  to  the  personnel  of  the  navy  of 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  137 

seven  thousand  five  hundred  sailors,  twenty-five  hun 
dred  apprentice  seamen,  and  fifteen  hundred  marines. 
This  increase  would  be  sufficient  to  care  for  the  ships 
which  are  to  be  completed  within  the  fiscal  year  1917 
and  also  for  the  number  of  men  which  must  be  put  in 
training  to  man  the  ships  which  will  be  completed  early 
in  1918.  It  is  also  necessary  that  the  number  of  mid 
shipmen  at  the  Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis  should  be 
increased  by  at  least  three  hundred  in  order  that  the 
force  of  officers  should  be  more  rapidly  added  to;  and 
authority  is  asked  to  appoint,  for  engineering  duties 
only,  approved  graduates  of  engineering  colleges,  and 
for  service  in  the  aviation  corps  a  certain  number  of 
men  taken  from  civil  life. 

If  this  full  program  should  be  carried  out  we 
should  have  built  or  building  in  1921,  according  to  the 
estimates  of  survival  and  standards  of  classification 
followed  by  the  General  Board  of  the  Department,  an 
effective  navy  consisting  of  twenty-seven  battleships,  of 
the  first  line,  six  battle  cruisers,  twenty-five  battleships 
of  the  second  line,  ten  armored  cruisers,  thirteen  scout 
cruisers,  five  first  class  cruisers,  three  second  class  cruis 
ers,  ten  third  class  cruisers,  one  hundred  and  eight 
destroyers,  eighteen  fleet  submarines,  one  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  coast  submarines,  six  monitors,  twenty  gun 
boats,  four  supply  ships,  fifteen  fuel  ships,  four  trans 
ports,  three  tenders  to  torpedo  vessels,  eight  vessels  of 
special  types,  and  two  ammunition  ships.  This  would  be 
a  navy  fitted  to  our  needs  and  worthy  of  our  traditions. 

But  armies  and  instruments  of  war  are  only  part 
of  what  has  to  be  considered  if  we  are  to  provide  for 


138          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  supreme  matter  of  national  self-sufficiency  and  se 
curity  in  all  its  aspects.  There  are  other  great  matters 
which  will  be  thrust  upon  our  attention  whether  we  will 
or  not.  There  is,  for  example,  a  very  pressing  question 
of  trade  and  shipping  involved  in  this  great  problem  of 
national  adequacy.  It  is  necessary  for  many  weighty 
reasons  of  national  efficiency  and  development  that  we 
should  have  a  great  merchant  marine.  The  great  mer 
chant  fleet  we  once  used  to  make  us  rich,  that  great  body 
of  sturdy  sailors  who  used  to  carry  our  flag  into  every 
sea,  and  who  were  the  pride  and  often  the  bulwark  of 
the  nation,  we  have  almost  driven  out  of  existence  by 
inexcusable  neglect  and  indifference  and  by  a  hopelessly 
blind  and  provincial  policy  of  so-called  economic  pro 
tection.  It  is  high  time  we  repaired  our  mistake 
and  resumed  our  commercial  independence  on  the 
seas. 

For  it  is  a  question  of  independence.  If  other 
nations  go  to  war  or  seek  to  hamper  each  other's 
commerce,  our  merchants,  it  seems,  are  at  their  mercy, 
to  do  with  as  they  please.  We  must  use  their  ships, 
and  use  them  as  they  determine.  We  have  not  ships 
enough  of  our  own.  We  cannot  handle  our  own  com 
merce  on  the  seas.  Our  independence  is  provincial,  and 
is  only  on  land  and  within  our  own  borders.  We  are 
not  likely  to  be  permitted  to  use  even  the  ships  of  other 
nations  in  rivalry  of  their  own  trade,  and  are  without 
means  to  extend  our  commerce  even  where  the  doors 
are  wide  open  and  our  goods  desired.  Such  a  situation 
is  not  to  be  endured.  It  is  of  capital  importance  not 
only  that  the  United  States  should  be  its  own  carrier 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  139 

on  the  seas  and  enjoy  the  economic  independence  which 
only  an  adequate  merchant  marine  would  give  it,  but 
also  that  the  American  hemisphere  as  a  whole  should 
enjoy  a  like  independence  and  self-sufficiency,  if  it  is 
not  to  be  drawn  into  the  tangle  of  European  affairs. 
Without  such  independence  the  whole  question  of  our 
political  unity  and  self-determination  is  very  seriously 
clouded  and  complicated  indeed. 

Moreover,  we  can  develop  no  true  or  effective  Ameri 
can  policy  without  ships  of  our  own, — not  ships  of  war, 
but  ships  of  peace,  carrying  goods  and  carrying  much 
more:  creating  friendships  and  rendering  indispensable 
services  to  all  interests  on  this  side  the  water.  They 
must  move  constantly  back  and  forth  between  the  Amer 
icas.  They  are  the  only  shuttles  that  can  weave  the 
delicate  fabric  of  sympathy,  comprehension,  confidence, 
and  mutual  dependence  in  which  we  wish  to  clothe  our 
policy  of  America  for  Americans. 

The  task  of  building  up  an  adequate  merchant  marine 
for  America,  private  capital  must  ultimately  undertake 
and  achieve,  as  it  has  undertaken  and  achieved  every 
other  like  task  amongst  us  in  the  past,  with  admirable 
enterprise,  intelligence,  and  vigor;  and  it  seems  to  me 
a  manifest  dictate  of  wisdom  that  we  should  promptly 
remove  every  legal  obstacle  that  may  stand  in  the  way 
of  this  much  to  be  desired  revival  of  our  old  independ 
ence  and  should  facilitate  in  every  possible  way  the 
building,  purchase,  and  American  registration  of  ships. 
But  capital  cannot  accomplish  this  great  task  of  a  sud 
den.  It  must  embark  upon  it  by  degrees,  as  the  oppor 
tunities  of  trade  develop.  Something  must  be  done  at 


140          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

once;  done  to  open  routes  and  develop  opportunities 
where  they  are  as  yet  undeveloped;  done  to  open  the 
arteries  of  trade  where  the  currents  have  not  yet  learned 
to  run, — especially  between  the  two  American  conti 
nents,  where  they  are,  singularly  enough,  yet  to  be  cre 
ated  and  quickened;  and  it  is  evident  that  only  the 
government  can  undertake  such  beginnings  and  assume 
the  initial  financial  risks.  When  the  risk  has  passed 
and  private  capital  begins  to  find  its  way  in  sufficient 
abundance  into  these  new  channels,  the  government  may 
withdraw.  But  it  cannot  omit  to  begin.  It  should  take 
the  first  steps,  and  should  take  them  at  once.  Our  goods 
must  not  lie  piled  up  at  our  ports  and  stored  upon  side 
tracks  in  freight  cars  which  are  daily  needed  on  the 
roads;  must  not  be  left  without  means  of  transport  to 
any  foreign  quarter.  We  must  not  await  the  permis 
sion  of  foreign  ship-owners  and  foreign  governments  to 
send  them  where  we  will. 

With  a  view  to  meeting  these  pressing  necessities  of 
our  commerce  and  availing  ourselves  at  the  earliest  pos 
sible  moment  of  the  present  unparalleled  opportunity  of 
linking  the  two  Americas  together  in  bonds  of  mutual 
interest  and  service,  an  opportunity  which  may  never 
return  again  if  we  miss  it  now,  proposals  will  be  made 
to  the  present  Congress  for  the  purchase  or  construc 
tion  of  ships  to  be  owned  and  directed  by  the  govern 
ment  similar  to  those  made  to  the  last  Congress,  but 
modified  in  some  essential  particulars.  I  recommend 
these  proposals  to  you  for  your  prompt  acceptance  with 
the  more  confidence  because  every  month  that  has 
elapsed  since  the  former  proposals  were  made  has  made 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  141 

the  necessity  for  such  action  more  and  more  manifestly 
imperative.  That  need  was  then  foreseen;  it  is  now 
acutely  felt  and  everywhere  realized  by  those  for  whom 
trade  is  waiting  but  who  can  find  no  conveyance  for 
their  goods.  I  am  not  so  much  interested  in  the  par 
ticulars  of  the  program  as  I  am  in  taking  immediate 
advantage  of  the  great  opportunity  which  awaits  us 
if  we  will  but  act  in  this  emergency.  In  this  matter, 
as  in  all  others,  a  spirit  of  common  counsel  should 
prevail,  and  out  of  it  should  come  an  early  solution  of 
this  pressing  problem. 

There  is  another  matter  which  seems  to  me  to  be 
very  intimately  associated  with  the  question  of  national 
safety  and  preparation  for  defense.  That  is  our  policy 
towards  the  Philippines  and  the  people  of  Porto  Rico. 
Our  treatment  of  them  and  their  attitude  towards  us  are 
manifestly  of  the  first  consequence  in  the  development 
of  our  duties  in  the  world  and  in  getting  a  free  hand 
to  perform  those  duties.  We  must  be  free  from  every 
unnecessary  burden  or  embarrassment;  and  there  is  no 
better  way  to  be  clear  of  embarrassment  than  to  fulfill 
our  promises  and  promote  the  interests  of  those  depend 
ent  on  us  to  the  utmost.  Bills  for  the  alteration  and 
reform  of  the  government  of  the  Philippines  and  for 
rendering  fuller  political  justice  to  the  people  of  Porto 
Rico  were  submitted  to  the  sixty-third  Congress.  They 
will  be  submitted  also  to  you.  I  need  not  particularize 
their  details.  You  are  most  of  you  already  familiar  with 
them.  But  I  do  recommend  them  to  your  early  adop 
tion  with  the  sincere  conviction  that  there  are  few 
measures  you  could  adopt  which  would  more  serviceably 


142          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

clear  the  way  for  the  great  policies  by  which  we  wish 
to  make  good,  now  and  always,  our  right  to  lead  in 
enterprises  of  peace  and  good  will  and  economic  and 
political  freedom. 

The  plans  for  the  armed  forces  of  the  nation  which 
I  have  outlined,  and  for  the  general  policy  of  adequate 
preparation  for  mobilization  and  defense,  involve  of 
course  very  large  additional  expenditures  of  money, — 
expenditures  which  will  considerably  exceed  the  esti 
mated  revenues  of  the  government.  It  is  made  my  duty 
by  law,  whenever  the  estimates  of  expenditure  exceed 
the  estimates  of  revenue,  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
Congress  to  the  fact  and  suggest  any  means  of  meeting 
the  deficiency  that  it  may  be  wise  or  possible  for  me 
to  suggest.  I  am  ready  to  believe  that  it  would  be  my 
duty  to  do  so  in  any  case ;  and  I  feel  particularly  bound 
to  speak  of  the  matter  when  it  appears  that  the  defi 
ciency  will  arise  directly  out  of  the  adoption  by  the 
Congress  of  measures  which  I  myself  urge  it  to  adopt. 
Allow  me,  therefore,  to  speak  briefly  of  the  present  state 
of  the  Treasury  and  of  the  fiscal  problems  which  the 
next  year  will  probably  disclose. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  June  last  there  was  an  available 
balance  in  the  general  fund  of  the  Treasury  of  $104,- 
170,105.78.  The  total  estimated  receipts  for  the  year 
1916,  on  the  assumption  that  the  emergency  revenue 
measure  passed  by  the  last  Congress  will  not  be  ex 
tended  beyond  its  present  limit,  the  thirty-first  of 
December,  1915,  and  that  the  present  duty  of  one  cent 
per  pound  on  sugar  will  be  discontinued  after  the  first 
of  May,  1916,  will  be  $670,365,500.  The  balance  of 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  143 

June  last  and  these  estimated  revenues  come,  therefore, 
to  a  grand  total  of  $774,535,605.78.  The  total  estimated 
disbursements  for  the  present  fiscal  year,  including 
twenty-five  millions  for  the  Panama  Canal,  twelve  mil 
lions  for  probable  deficiency  appropriations,  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars  for  miscellaneous  debt  redemptions, 
will  be  $753,891,000;  and  the  balance  in  the  general 
fund  of  the  Treasury  will  be  reduced  to  $20,644,605.78. 
The  emergency  revenue  act,  if  continued  beyond  its 
present  time  limitation,  would  produce,  during  the  half 
year  then  remaining,  about  forty-one  millions.  The 
duty  of  one  cent  per  pound  on  sugar,  if-  continued,  would 
produce  during  the  two  months  of  the  fiscal  year  remain 
ing  after  the  first  of  May,  about  fifteen  millions.  These 
two  sums,  amounting  together  to  fifty-six  millions,  if 
added  to  the  revenues  of  the  second  half  of  the  fiscal 
year,  would  yield  the  Treasury  at  the  end  of  the  year 
an  available  balance  of  $76,644,605.78. 

The  additional  revenues  required  to  carry  out  the 
program  of  military  and  naval  preparation  of  which 
I  have  spoken,  would,  as  at  present  estimated,  be  for 
the  fiscal  year  1917,  $93,800,000.  Those  figures,  taken 
with  the  figures  for  the  present  fiscal  year  which  I  have 
already  given,  disclose  our  financial  problem  for  the  year 
1917.  Assuming  that  the  taxes  imposed  by  the  emer 
gency  revenue  act  and  the  present  duty  on  sugar  are 
to  be  discontinued,  and  that  the  balance  at  the  close  of 
the  present  fiscal  year  will  be  only  $20,644,605.78,  that 
the  disbursements  for  the  Panama  Canal  will  again  be 
about  twenty-five  millions,  and  that  the  additional  ex 
penditures  for  the  army  and  navy  are  authorized  by 


144          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  Congress,  the  deficit  in  the  general  fund  of  the 
Treasury  on  the  thirtieth  of  June,  1917,  will  be  nearly 
two  hundred  and  thirty-five  millions.  To  this  sum  at 
least  fifty  millions  should  be  added  to  represent  a  safe 
working  balance  for  the  Treasury,  and  twelve  millions 
to  include  the  usual  deficiency  estimates  in  1917;  and 
these  additions  would  make  a  total  deficit  of  some  two 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  millions.  If  the  present  taxes 
should  be  continued  throughout  this  year  and  the  next, 
however,  there  would  be  a  balance  in  the  Treasury  of 
some  seventy-six  and  a  half  millions  at  the  end  of  the 
present  fiscal  year,  and  a  deficit  at  the  end  of  the  next 
year  of  only  some  fifty  millions,  or,  reckoning  in  sixty- 
two  millions  for  deficiency  appropriations  and  a  safe 
Treasury  balance  at  the  end  of  the  year,  a  total  deficit 
of  some  one  hundred  and  twelve  millions.  The  obvious 
moral  of  the  figures  is  that  it  is  a  plain  counsel  of 
prudence  to  continue  all  of  the  present  taxes  or  their 
equivalents,  and  confine  ourselves  to  the  problem  of 
providing  one  hundred  and  twelve  millions  of  new  rev 
enue  rather  than  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  millions. 
How  shall  we  obtain  the  new  revenue?  We  are 
frequently  reminded  that  there  are  many  millions  of 
bonds  which  the  Treasury  is  authorized  under  existing 
law  to  sell  to  reimburse  the  sums  paid  out  of  current 
revenues  for  the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal; 
and  it  is  true  that  bonds  to  the  amount  of  approxi 
mately  $222,000,000  are  now  available  for  that  purpose. 
Prior  to  1913,  $134,631,980  of  these  bonds  had  actually 
been  sold  to  recoup  the  expenditures  at  the  Isthmus; 
and  now  constitute  a  considerable  item  of  the  public 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  145 

debt.  But  I,  for  one,  do  not  believe  that  the  people  of 
this  country  approve  of  postponing  the  payment  of  their 
bills.  Borrowing  money  is  short-sighted  finance.  It  can 
be  justified  only  when  permanent  things  are  to  be  accom 
plished  which  many  generations  will  certainly  benefit 
by  and  which  it  seems  hardly  fair  that  a  single  genera 
tion  should  pay  for.  The  objects  we  are  now  proposing 
to  spend  money  for  cannot  be  so  classified,  except  in  the 
sense  that  everything  wisely  done  may  be  said  to  be 
done  in  the  interest  of  posterity  as  well  as  in  our  own. 
It  seems  to  me  a  clear  dictate  of  prudent  statesmanship 
and  frank  finance  that  in  what  we  are  now,  I  hope, 
about  to  undertake  we  should  pay  as  we  go.  The  people 
of  the  country  are  entitled  to  know  just  what  burdens  of 
taxation  they  are  to  carry,  and  to  know  from  the  out 
set,  now.  The  new  bills  should  be  paid  by  internal 
taxation. 

To  what  sources,  then,  shall  we  turn?  This  is  so 
peculiarly  a  question  which  the  gentlemen  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  are  expected  under  the  Constitution 
to  propose  an  answer  to  that  you  will  hardly  expect  me 
to  do  more  than  discuss  it  in  very  general  terms.  We 
should  be  following  an  almost  universal  example  of 
modern  governments  if  we  were  to  draw  the  greater 
part  or  even  the  whole  of  the  revenues  we  need  from 
the  income  taxes.  By  somewhat  lowering  the  present 
limits  of  exemption  and  the  figure  at  which  the  surtax 
shall  begin  to  be  imposed,  and  by  increasing,  step  by 
step  throughout  the  present  graduation,  the  surtax 
itself,  the  income  taxes  as  at  present  apportioned  would 
yield  sums  sufficient  to  balance  the  books  of  the  Treasury 


146          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

at  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  1917  without  anywhere 
making  the  burden  unreasonably  or  oppressively  heavy. 
The  precise  reckonings  are  fully  and  accurately  set  out 
in  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  which 
will  be  immediately  laid  before  you. 

And  there  are  many  additional  sources  of  revenue 
which  can  justly  be  resorted  to  without  hampering  the 
industries  of  the  country  or  putting  any  too  great  charge 
upon  individual  expenditure.  A  tax  of  one  cent  per 
gallon  on  gasoline  and  naphtha  would  yield,  at  the 
present  estimated  production,  $10,000,000;  a  tax  of  fifty 
cents  per  horse  power  on  automobiles  and  internal  ex 
plosion  engines,  $15,000,000;  a  stamp  tax  on  bank 
cheques,  probably  $18,000,000 ;  a  tax  of  twenty-five  cents 
per  ton  on  pig  iron,  $10,000,000;  a  tax  of  twenty-five 
cents  per  ton  on  fabricated  iron  and  steel,  probably 
$10,000,000.  In  a  country  of  great  industries  like  this 
it  ought  to  be  easy  to  distribute  the  burdens  of  taxa 
tion  without  making  them  anywhere  bear  too  heavily 
or  too  exclusively  upon  any  one  set  of  persons  or  under 
takings.  What  is  clear  is,  that  the  industry  of  this  gen 
eration  should  pay  the  bills  of  this  generation. 

I  have  spoken  to  you  to-day,  gentlemen,  upon  a  sin 
gle  theme,  the  thorough  preparation  of  the  nation  to 
care  for  its  own  security  and  to  make  sure  of  entire 
freedom  to  play  the  impartial  role  in  this  hemisphere 
and  in  the  world  which  we  all  believe  to  have  been  provi 
dentially  assigned  to  it.  I  have  had  in  my  mind  no 
thought  of  any  immediate  or  particular  danger  arising 
out  of  our  relations  with  other  nations.  We  are  at 
peace  with  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  there  is 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  147 

reason  to  hope  that  no  question  in  controversy  between 
this  and  other  Governments  will  lead  to  any  serious 
breach  of  amicable  relations,  grave  as  some  differences 
of  attitude  and  policy  have  been  and  may  yet  turn  out 
to  be.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  the  gravest  threats  against 
our  national  peace  and  safety  have  been  uttered  within 
our  own  borders.  There  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  I  blush  to  admit,  born  under  other  flags  but  wel 
comed  under  our  generous  naturalization  laws  to  the 
full  freedom  and  opportunity  of  America,  who  have 
poured  the  poison  of  disloyalty  into  the  very  arteries 
of  our  national  life;  who  have  sought  to  bring  the 
authority  and  good  name  of  our  Government  into  con 
tempt,  to  destroy  our  industries  wherever  they  thought 
it  effective  for  their  vindictive  purposes  to  strike  at 
them,  and  to  debase  our  politics  to  the  uses  of  foreign 
intrigue.  Their  number  is  not  great  as  compared  with 
the  whole  number  of  those  sturdy  hosts  by  which  our 
nation  has  been  enriched  in  recent  generations  out  of 
virile  foreign  stocks;  but  it  is  great  enough  to  have 
brought  deep  disgrace  upon  us  and  to  have  made  it 
necessary  that  we  should  promptly  make  use  of  processes 
of  law  by  which  we  may  be  purged  of  their  corrupt  dis 
tempers.  America  never  witnessed  anything  like  this 
before.  It  never  dreamed  it  possible  that  men  sworn 
into  its  own  citizenship,  men  drawn  out  of  great  free 
stocks  such  as  supplied  some  of  the  best  and  strongest 
elements  of  that  little,  but  how  heroic,  nation  that  in  a 
high  day  of  old  staked  its  very  life  to  free  itself  from 
every  entanglement  that  had  darkened  the  fortunes  of 
the  older  nations  and  set  up  a  new  standard  here, — that 


148          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

men  of  such  origins  and  such  free  choices  of  allegiance 
would  ever  turn  in  malign  reaction  against  the  Govern 
ment  and  people  who  had  welcomed  and  nurtured  them 
and  seek  to  make  this  proud  country  once  more  a  hot 
bed  of  European  passion.  A  little  while  ago  such  a 
thing  would  have  seemed  incredible.  Because  it  was 
incredible  we  made  no  preparation  for  it.  We  would 
have  been  almost  ashamed  to  prepare  for  it,  as  if  we 
were  suspicious  of  ourselves,  our  own  comrades  and 
neighbors !  But  the  ugly  and  incredible  thing  has  actu 
ally  come  about  and  we  are  without  adequate  federal 
laws  to  deal  with  it.  I  urge  you  to  enact  such  laws  at 
the  earliest  possible  moment  and  feel  that  in  doing  so 
I  am  urging  you  to  do  nothing  less  than  save  the  honor 
and  self-respect  of  the  nation.  Such  creatures  of  pas 
sion,  disloyalty,  and  anarchy  must  be  crushed  out.  They 
are  not  many,  but  they  are  infinitely  malignant,  and  the 
hand  of  our  power  should  close  over  them  at  once.  They 
have  formed  plots  to  destroy  property,  they  have  entered 
into  conspiracies  against  the  neutrality  of  the  Govern 
ment,  they  have  sought  to  pry  into  every  confidential 
transaction  of  the  Government  in  order  to  serve  interests 
alien  to  our  own.  It  is  possible  to  deal  with  these  things 
very  effectually.  I  need  not  suggest  the  terms  in  which 
they  may  be  dealt  with. 

I  wish  that  it  could  be  said  that  only  a  few  men, 
misled  by  mistaken  sentiments  of  allegiance  to  the  gov 
ernments  under  which  they  were  born,  had  been  guilty 
of  disturbing  the  self-possession  and  misrepresenting 
the  temper  and  principles  of  the  country  during  these 
days  of  terrible  war,  when  it  would  seem  that  every  man 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  149 

who  was  truly  an  American  would  instinctively  make  it 
his  duty  and  his  pride  to  keep  the  scales  of  judgment 
even  and  prove  himself  a  partisan  of  no  nation  but 
his  own.  But  it  cannot.  There  are  some  men  among 
us,  and  many  resident  abroad  who,  though  born  and 
bred  in  the  United  States  and  calling  themselves  Ameri 
cans,  have  so  forgotten  themselves  and  their  honor  as 
citizens  as  to  put  their  passionate  sympathy  with  one 
or  the  other  side  in  the  great  European  conflict  above 
their  regard  for  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  United 
States.  They  also  preach  and  practice  disloyalty.  No 
laws,  I  suppose,  can  reach  corruptions  of  the  mind  and 
heart;  but  I  should  not  speak  of  others  without  also 
speaking  of  these  and  expressing  the  even  deeper  humili 
ation  and  scorn  which  every  self-possessed  and  thought 
fully  patriotic  American  must  feel  when  he  thinks  of 
them  and  of  the  discredit  they  are  daily  bringing 
upon  us. 

While  we  speak  of  the  preparation  of  the  nation  to 
make  sure  of  her  security  and  her  effective  power  we 
must  not  fall  into  the  patent  error  of  supposing  that  her 
real  strength  comes  from  armaments  and  mere  safe 
guards  of  written  law.  It  comes,  of  course,  from  her 
people,  their  energy,  their  success  in  their  undertakings, 
their  free  opportunity  to  use  the  natural  resources  of 
our  great  home  land  and  of  the  lands  outside  our  con 
tinental  borders  which  look  to  us  for  protection,  for 
encouragement,  and  for  assistance  in  their  development ; 
from  the  organization  and  freedom  and  vitality  of  our 
economic  life.  The  domestic  questions  which  engaged 
the  attention  of  the  last  Congress  are  more  vital  to  the 


150          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

nation  in  this  its  time  of  test  than  at  any  other  time. 
We  cannot  adequately  make  ready  for  any  trial  of  our 
strength  unless  we  wisely  and  promptly  direct  the  force 
of  our  laws  into  these  all-important  fields  of  domestic 
action.  A  matter  which  it  seems  to  me  we  should  have 
very  much  at  heart  is  the  creation  of  the  right  instru 
mentalities  by  which  to  mobilize  our  economic  resources 
in  any  time  of  national  necessity.  I  take  it  for  granted 
that  I  do  not  need  your  authority  to  call  into  systematic 
consultation  with  the  directing  officers  of  the  army  and 
navy  men  of  recognized  leadership  and  ability  from 
among  our  citizens  who  are  thoroughly  familiar,  for 
example,  with  the  transportation  facilities  of  the  coun 
try  and  therefore  competent  to  advise  how  they  may  be 
co-ordinated  when  the  need  arises,  those  who  can  sug 
gest  the  best  way  in  which  to  bring  about  prompt  co 
operation  among  the  manufacturers  of  the  country, 
should  it  be  necessary,  and  those  who  could  assist  to 
bring  the  technical  skill  of  the  country  to  the  aid  of  the 
Government  in  the  solution  of  particular  problems  of 
defense.  I  only  hope  that  if  I  should  find  it  feasible 
to  constitute  such  an  advisory  body  the  Congress  would 
be  willing  to  vote  the  small  sum  of  money  that  would 
be  needed  to  defray  the  expenses  that  would  probably  be 
necessary  to  give  it  the  clerical  and  administrative  ma 
chinery  with  which  to  do  serviceable  work. 

What  is  more  important  is,  that  the  industries  and 
resources  of  the  country  should  be  available  and  ready 
for  mobilization.  It  is  the  more  imperatively  necessary, 
therefore,  that  we  should  promptly  devise  means  for 
doing  what  we  have  not  yet  done:  that  we  should  give 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  151 

intelligent  federal  aid  and  stimulation  to  industrial  and 
vocational  education,  as  we  have  long  done  in  the  large 
field  of  our  agricultural  industry ;  that,  at  the  same  time 
that  we  safeguard  and  conserve  the  natural  resources 
of  the  country  we  should  put  them  at  the  disposal  of 
those  who  will  use  them  promptly  and  intelligently,  as 
was  sought  to  be  done  in  the  admirable  bills  submitted 
to  the  last  Congress  from  its  committees  on  the  public 
lands,  bills  which  I  earnestly  recommend  in  principle 
to  your  consideration;  that  we  should  put  into  early 
operation  some  provision  for  rural  credits  which  will 
add  to  the  extensive  borrowing  facilities  already  afforded 
the  farmer  by  the  Reserve  Bank  Act  adequate  instru 
mentalities  by  which  long  credits  may  be  obtained  on 
land  mortgages;  and  that  we  should  study  more  care 
fully  than  they  have  hitherto  been  studied  the  right 
adaptation  of  our  economic  arrangements  to  changing 
conditions. 

Many  conditions  about  which  we  have  repeatedly 
legislated  are  being  altered  from  decade  to  decade,  it 
is  evident,  under  our  very  eyes,  and  are  likely  to  change 
even  more  rapidly  and  more  radically  in  the  days  imme 
diately  ahead  of  us,  when  peace  has  returned  to  the 
world  and  the  nations  of  Europe  once  more  take  up 
their  tasks  of  commerce  and  industry  with  the  energy 
of  those  who  must  bestir  themselves  to  build  anew. 
Just  what  these  changes  will  be  no  one  can  certainly 
foresee  or  confidently  predict.  There  are  no  calculable, 
because  no  stable,  elements  in  the  problem.  The  most 
we  can  do  is  to  make  certain  that  we  have  the  necessary 
instrumentalities  of  information  constantly  at  our  serv- 


152          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

ice  so  that  we  may  be  sure  that  we  know  exactly  what 
we  are  dealing  with  when  we  come  to  act,  if  it  should 
be  necessary  to  act  at  all.  We  must  first  certainly  know 
what  it  is  that  we  are  seeking  to  adapt  ourselves  to. 
I  may  ask  the  privilege  of  addressing  you  more  at 
length  on  this  important  matter  a  little  later  in  your 
session. 

In  the  meantime  may  I  make  this  suggestion?  The 
transportation  problem  is  an  exceedingly  serious  and 
pressing  one  in  this  country.  There  has  from  time  to 
time  of  late  been  reason  to  fear  that  our  railroads  would 
not  much  longer  be  able  to  cope  with  it  successfully,  as 
at  present  equipped  and  co-ordinated.  I  suggest  that 
it  would  be  wise  to  provide  for  a  commission  of  inquiry 
to  ascertain  by  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  whole  ques 
tion  whether  our  laws  as  at  present  framed  and  admin 
istered  are  as  serviceable  as  they  might  be  in  the  solu 
tion  of  the  problem.  It  is  obviously  a  problem  that 
lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  our  efficiency  as  a  people. 
Such  an  inquiry  ought  to  draw  out  every  circumstance 
and  opinion  worth  considering  and  we  need  to  know 
all  sides  of  the  matter  if  we  mean  to  do  anything  in 
the  field  of  federal  legislation. 

No  one,  I  am  sure,  would  wish  to  take  any  backward 
step.  The  regulation  of  the  railways  of  the  country 
by  federal  commission  has  had  admirable  results  and 
has  fully  justified  the  hopes  and  expectations  of  those 
by  whom  the  policy  of  regulation  was  originally  pro 
posed.  The  question  is  not  what  should  we  undo  ?  It  is, 
whether  there  is  anything  else  we  can  do  that  would 
supply  us  with  effective  means,  in  the  very  process  of 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  153 

regulation,  for  bettering  the  conditions  under  which  the 
railroads  are  operated  and  for  making  them  more  useful 
servants  of  the  country  as  a  whole.  It  seems  to  me 
that  it  might  be  the  part  of  wisdom,  therefore,  before 
further  legislation  in  this  field  is  attempted,  to  look  at 
the  whole  problem  of  co-ordination  and  efficiency  in  the 
full  light  of  a  fresh  assessment  of  circumstance  and 
opinion,  as  a  guide  to  dealing  with  the  several  parts  of  it. 
For  what  we  are  seeking  now,  what  in  my  mind  is 
the  single  thought  of  this  message,  is  national  efficiency 
and  security.  We  serve  a  great  nation.  We  should 
serve  it  in  the  spirit  of  its  peculiar  genius.  It  is  the 
genius  of  common  men  for  self-government,  industry, 
justice,  liberty,  and  peace.  We  should  see  to  it  that  it 
lacks  no  instrument,  no  facility  or  vigor  of  law,  to  make 
it  sufficient  to  play  its  part  with  energy,  safety,  and 
assured  success.  In  this  we  are  no  partisans  but  heralds 
and  prophets  of  a  new  age. 


ADDRESS     BEFORE     THE     PAN    AMERICAN 

SCIENTIFIC  CONGRESS,  WASHINGTON, 

JANUARY  6,  1916 

The  Second  Pan  American  Scientific  Congress  met  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
December  27,  1915-January  8,  1916,  and  was  composed  of  official  and  scientific 
representatives  from  all  of  the  American  Republics.  The  First  Congress  had  met 
at  Santiago,  Chile,  December  25,  1908-January  5,  1909,  and  a  resolution  was 
adopted  then  and  there  that  the  Second  should  convene  in  Washington  as  the 
guest  of  the  United  States.  The  Congress  was  divided  into  nine  sections  dealing 
with  Anthropology  (Section  I),  Astronomy,  Meteorology,  and  Seismology  (Sec 
tion  II ) ,  Conservation  of  Natural  Resources,  Agriculture,  Irrigation,  and  For 
estry  (Section  III),  Education  (Section  IV),  Engineering  (Section  V),  Inter 
national  Law,  Public  Law,  and  Jurisprudence  (Section  VI),  Mining,  Metal 
lurgy,  Economic  Geology,  and  Applied  Chemistry  (Section  VII),  Public  Health 
and  Medical  Science  ( Section  VIII ) ,  and  Transportation,  Commerce,  Finance, 
and  Taxation  ( Section  IX ) .  The  subject-matter  of  the  various  divisions  was 
discussed  in  conference,  and  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Congress  embodied 
in  a  Final  Act,  which,  accompanied  by  an  interpretative  commentary,  was 
issued  in  the  United  States  in  1916. 

ME.  AMBASSADOR,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN": 

It  was  a  matter  of  sincere  regret  with  me  that  I 
was  not  in  the  city  to  extend  the  greetings  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  this  distinguished  body,  and  I  am  very 
happy  that  I  have  returned  in  time  at  least  to  extend 
to  it  my  felicitations  upon  the  unusual  interest  and 
success  of  its  proceedings.  I  wish  that  it  might  have 
been  my  good  fortune  to  be  present  at  the  sessions  and 
instructed  by  the  papers  that  were  read.  I  have  some 
what  become  inured  to  scientific  papers  in  the  course 
of  a  long  experience,  but  I  have  never  ceased  to  be 
instructed  and  to  enjoy  them. 

The  sessions  of  this  congress  have  been  looked  for 
ward  to  with  the  greatest  interest  throughout  this  coun- 

154 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  155 

try,  because  there  is  no  more  certain  evidence  of  intel 
lectual  life  than  the  desire  of  men  of  all  nations  to  share 
their  thoughts  with  one  another. 

I  have  been  told  so  much  about  the  proceedings  of 
this  congress  that  I  feel  that  I  can  congratulate  you 
upon  the  increasing  sense  of  comradeship  and  intimate 
intercourse  which  has  marked  its  sessions  from  day  to 
day;  and  it  is  a  very  happy  circumstance  in  our  view 
that  this,  perhaps  the  most  vital  and  successful  of  the 
meetings  of  this  congress,  should  have  occurred  in  the 
Capital  of  our  own  country,  because  we  should  wish  to 
regard  this  as  the  universal  place  where  ideas  worth 
while  are  exchanged  and  shared.  The  drawing  together 
of  the  Americas,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  has  long  been 
dreamed  of  and  desired.  It  is  a  matter  of  peculiar 
gratification,  therefore,  to  see  this  great  thing  happen; 
to  see  the  Americas  drawing  together,  and  not  drawing 
together  upon  any  insubstantial  foundation  of  mere 
sentiment. 

After  all,  even  friendship  must  be  based  upon  a  per 
ception  of  common  sympathies,  of  common  interests,  of 
common  ideals,  and  of  common  purposes.  Men  cannot 
be  friends  unless  they  intend  the  same  things,  and  the 
Americas  have  more  and  more  realized  that  in  all  essen 
tial  particulars  they  intend  the  same  thing  with  regard 
to  their  thought  and  their  life  and  their  activities.  To  be 
privileged,  therefore,  to  see  this  drawing  together  in 
friendship  and  communion  based  upon  these  solid  foun 
dations  affords  everyone  who  looks  on  with  open  eyes 
peculiar  satisfaction  and  joy;  and  it  has  seemed  to  me 
that  the  language  of  science,  the  language  of  impersonal 


156          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

thought,  the  language  of  those  who  think,  not  along  the 
lines  of  individual  interest  but  along  what  are  intended 
to  be  the  direct  and  searching  lines  of  truth  itself,  was 
a  very  fortunate  language  in  which  to  express  this  com 
munity  of  interest  and  of  sympathy.  Science  affords 
an  international  language  just  as  commerce  also  affords 
a  universal  language,  because  in  each  instance  there  is 
a  universal  purpose,  a  universal  general  plan  of  action, 
and  it  is  a  pleasing  thought  to  those  who  have  had 
something  to  do  with  scholarship  that  scholars  have  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  sowing  the  seeds  of  friendship 
between  nation  and  nation.  Truth  recognizes  no  national 
boundaries.  Truth  permits  no  racial  prejudices;  and 
when  men  come  to  know  each  other  and  to  recognize 
equal  intellectual  strength  and  equal  intellectual  sin 
cerity  and  a  common  intellectual  purpose  some  of  the 
best  foundations  of  friendship  are  already  laid. 

But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  our  thought  cannot  pause 
at  the  artificial  boundaries  of  the  fields  of  science  and 
of  commerce.  All  boundaries  that  divide  life  into  sec 
tions  and  interests  are  artificial,  because  life  is  all  of  a 
piece.  You  cannot  treat  part  of  it  without  by  implica 
tion  and  indirection  treating  all  of  it,  and  the  field  of 
science  is  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  field  of  life 
any  more  than  the  field  of  commerce  is  to  be  distin 
guished  from  the  general  field  of  life.  No  one  who 
reflects  upon  the  progress  of  science  or  the  spread  of 
the  arts  of  peace  or  the  extension  and  perfection  of  any 
of  the  practical  arts  of  life  can  fail  to  see  that  there  is 
only  one  atmosphere  that  these  things  can  breathe,  and 
that  is  an  atmosphere  of  mutual  confidence  and  of  peace 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS 

and  of  ordered  political  life  among  the  nations.  Amidst 
war  and  revolution  even  the  voice  of  science  must  for 
the  most  part  be  silent,  and  revolution  tears  up  the  very 
roots  of  everything  that  makes  life  go  steadily  forward 
and  the  light  grow  from  generation  to  generation.  For 
nothing  stirs  passion  like  political  disturbance,  and  pas 
sion  is  the  enemy  of  truth. 

These  things  were  realized  with  peculiar  vividness 
and  said  with  unusual  eloquence  in  a  recent  confer 
ence  held  in  this  city  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  financial  relations  between  the  two  continents  of 
America,  because  it  was  perceived  that  financiers  can 
do  nothing  without  the  co-operation  of  governments, 
and  that  if  merchants  would  deal  with  one  another, 
laws  must  agree  with  one  another — that  you  cannot 
make  laws  vary  without  making  them  contradict,  and 
that  amidst  contradictory  laws  the  easy  flow  of  com 
mercial  intercourse  is  impossible,  and  that,  therefore, 
a  financial  congress  naturally  led  to  all  the  inferences 
of  politics.  For  politics  I  conceive  to  be  nothing  more 
than  the  science  of  the  ordered  progress  of  society 
along  the  lines  of  greatest  usefulness  and  convenience 
to  itself.  I  have  never  in  my  own  mind  admitted  the 
distinction  between  the  other  departments  of  life  and 
politics.  Some  people  devote  themselves  so  exclusively 
to  politics  that  they  forget  there  is  any  other  part  of 
life,  and  so  soon  as  they  do  they  become  that  thing 
which  is  described  as  a  "mere  politician."  Statesman 
ship  begins  where  these  connections  so  unhappily  lost 
are  re-established.  The  statesman  stands  in  the  midst 
of  life  to  interpret  life  in  political  action. 


158          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  conference  to  which  I  have  referred  marked 
the  consciousness  of  the  two  Americas  that  economi 
cally  they  are  very  dependent  upon  one  another,  that 
they  have  a  great  deal  that  it  is  very  desirable  they 
should  exchange  and  share  with  one  another,  that  they 
have  kept  unnaturally  and  unfortunately  separated  and 
apart  when  they  had  a  manifest  and  obvious  community 
of  interest;  and  the  object  of  that  conference  was  to 
ascertain  the  practical  means  by  which  the  commercial 
and  practical  intercourse  of  the  two  continents  could 
be  quickened  and  facilitated.  And  where  events  move 
statesmen,  if  they  be  not  indifferent  or  be  not  asleep, 
must  think  and  act. 

For  my  own  part  I  congratulate  myself  upon  living 
in  a  time  when  these  things,  always  susceptible  of 
intellectual  demonstration,  have  begun  to  be  very  widely 
and  universally  appreciated  and  when  the  statesmen  of 
the  two  American  continents  have  more  and  more  come 
into  candid,  trustful,  mutual  conference,  comparing 
views  as  to  the  practical  and  friendly  way  of  helping 
one  another  and  of  setting  forward  every  handsome 
enterprise  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

But  these  gentlemen  have  not  conferred  without 
realizing  that  back  of  all  the  material  community  of 
interest  of  which  I  have  spoken  there  lies  and  must  lie 
a  community  of  political  interest.  I  have  been  told  a 
very  interesting  fact — I  hope  it  is  true — that  while  this 
Congress  has  been  discussing  science  it  has  been  in 
spite  of  itself  led  into  the  feeling  that  behind  the  science 
there  was  some  inference  with  regard  to  politics,  and 
that  if  the  Americas  were  to  be  united  in  thought  they 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  159 

must  in  some  degree  sympathetically  be  united  in  action. 
But  these  statesmen  who  have  been  conferring  from 
month  to  month  in  Washington  have  come  to  realize 
that  back  of  the  community  of  material  interest  there 
is  a  community  of  political  interest. 

I  hope  I  can  make  clear  to  you  in  what  sense  I  use 
these  words.  I  do  not  mean  a  mere  partnership  in  the 
things  that  are  expedient.  I  mean  what  I  was  trying 
to  indicate  a  few  moments  ago,  that  you  cannot  separate 
politics  from  these  things,  that  you  cannot  have  real 
intercourse  of  any  kind  amidst  political  jealousies,  which 
is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  you  cannot  commune 
unless  you  are  friends,  and  that  friendship  is  based 
upon  your  political  relations  with  each  other  perhaps 
more  than  upon  any  other  kind  of  relationship  between 
nations.  If  nations  are  politically  suspicious  of  one 
another,  all  their  intercourse  is  embarrassed.  That  is 
the  reason,  I  take  it,  if  it  be  true,  as  I  hope  it  is,  that 
your  thoughts  even  during  this  Congress,  though  the 
questions  you  are  called  upon  to  consider  are  appar 
ently  so  foreign  to  politics,  have  again  and  again  been 
drawn  back  to  the  political  inferences.  The  object  of 
American  statesmanship  on  the  two  continents  is  to 
see  to  it  that  American  friendship  is  founded  on  a 
rock. 

The  Monroe  doctrine  was  proclaimed  by  the  United 
States  on  her  own  authority.  It  always  has  been  main 
tained,  and  always  will  be  maintained,  upon  her  own 
responsibility.  But  the  Monroe  doctrine  demanded 
merely  that  European  Governments  should  not  attempt 
to  extend  their  political  systems  to  this  side  of  the 


160          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Atlantic.  It  did  not  disclose  the  use  which  the  United 
States  intended  to  make  of  her  power  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic.  It  was  a  hand  held  up  in  warning,  but 
there  was  no  promise  in  it  of  what  America  was  going  to 
do  with  the  implied  and  partial  protectorate  which  she 
apparently  was  trying  to  set  up  on  this  side  of  the 
water;  and  I  believe  you  will  sustain  me  in  the  state 
ment  that  it  has  been  fears  and  suspicions  on  this  score 
which  have  hitherto  prevented  the  greater  intimacy  and 
confidence  and  trust  between  the  Americas.  The  States 
of  America  have  not  been  certain  what  the  United 
States  would  do  with  her  power.  That  doubt  must  be 
removed.  And  latterly  there  has  been  a  very  frank 
interchange  of  views  between  the  authorities  in  Wash 
ington  and  those  who  represented  the  other  States  of 
this  hemisphere,  an  interchange  of  views  charming  and 
hopeful,  because  based  upon  an  increasingly  sure  appre 
ciation  of  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  undertaken. 
These  gentlemen  have  seen  that  if  America  is  to 
come  into  her  own,  into  her  legitimate  own,  in  a 
world  of  peace  and  order,  she  must  establish  the  foun 
dations  of  amity  so  that  no  one  will  hereafter  doubt 
them. 

I  hope  and  I  believe  that  this  can  be  accomplished. 
These  conferences  have  enabled  me  to  foresee  how  it 
will  be  accomplished.  It  will  be  accomplished  in  the 
first  place  by  the  States  of  America  uniting  in  guar 
anteeing  to  each  other  absolutely  political  independence 
and  territorial  integrity.  In  the  second  place,  and  as 
a  necessary  corollary  to  that,  guaranteeing  the  agree 
ment  to  settle  all  pending  boundary  disputes  as  soon 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  161 

as  possible  and  by  amicable  process ;  by  agreeing  that  all 
disputes  among  themselves,  should  they  unhappily  arise, 
will  be  handled  by  patient,  impartial  investigation,  and 
settled  by  arbitration;  and  the  agreement  necessary  to 
the  peace  of  the  Americas,  that  no  State  of  either  con 
tinent  will  permit  revolutionary  expeditions  against 
another  State  to  be  fitted  out  on  its  territory,  and  that 
they  will  prohibit  the  exportation  of  the  munitions  of 
war  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  revolutionists  against 
neighboring  governments. 

You  see  what  our  thought  is,  gentlemen,  not  only 
the  international  peace  of  America  but  the  domestic 
peace  of  America.  If  American  States  are  constantly 
in  ferment,  if  any  of  them  are  constantly  in  ferment, 
there  will  be  a  standing  threat  to  their  relations  with 
one  another.  It  is  just  as  much  to  our  interest  to  assist 
each  other  to  the  orderly  processes  within  our  own 
borders  as  it  is  to  orderly  processes  in  our  controver 
sies  with  one  another.  These  are  very  practical  sugges 
tions  which  have  sprung  up  in  the  minds  of  thoughtful 
men,  and  I,  for  my  part,  believe  that  they  are  going  to 
lead  the  way  to  something  that  America  has  prayed  for 
for  many  a  generation.  For  they  are  based,  in  the  first 
place,  so  far  as  the  stronger  States  are  concerned,  upon 
the  handsome  principle  of  self-restraint  and  respect  for 
the  rights  of  everybody.  They  are  based  upon  the  prin 
ciples  of  absolute  political  equality  among  the  States, 
equality  of  right,  not  equality  of  indulgence.  They  are 
based,  in  short,  upon  the  solid  eternal  foundations  of 
justice  and  humanity.  No  man  can  turn  away  from 
these  things  without  turning  away  from  the  hope  of 


162          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  world.  These  are  things,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for 
which  the  world  has  hoped  and  waited  with  prayerful 
heart.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  granted  to  America 
to  lift  this  light  on  high  for  the  illumination  of  the 
world. 


THE  WORLD  WAR  AND  AMERICAN 
PREPAREDNESS 

ADDRESS      DELIVERED      AT      CLEVELAND, 
OHIO,   JANUARY   29,    1916 

ME.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

I  esteem  it  a  real  privilege  to  be  in  Cleveland  again 
and  to  address  you  upon  the  serious  questions  of  public 
policy  which  now  confront  us.  I  have  not  given  my 
self  this  sort  of  pleasure  very  often  since  I  have  been 
President,  for  I  hope  that  you  have  observed  what 
my  conception  of  the  office  of  President  is.  I  do  not 
believe  that,  ordinarily  speaking,  it  is  a  speech-making 
office.  I  have  found  the  exactions  of  it  such  that  it 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  me  to  remain  constantly 
in  touch  with  the  daily  changes  of  public  business, 
and  you  so  arranged  it  that  I  should  be  President  at 
a  time  when  there  was  a  great  deal  of  public  business 
to  remain  in  touch  with.  But  the  times  are  such, 
gentlemen,  that  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  take 
common  counsel  together  regarding  them. 

I  suppose  that  this  country  has  never  found  itself 
before  in  so  singular  a  position.  The  present  situa 
tion  of  the  world  would,  only  a  twelvemonth  ago,  even 
after  the  European  war  had  started,  have  seemed  in 
credible,  and  yet  now  the  things  that  no  man  antici 
pated  have  happened.  The  titanic  struggle  continues. 
The  difficulties  of  the  world's  affairs  accumulate.  It 

163 


164          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

was,  of  course,  evident  that  this  was  taking  place  long 
before  the  present  session  of  Congress  assembled,  but 
only  since  the  Congress  assembled  has  it  been  possible 
to  consider  what  we  ought  to  do  in  the  new  circum 
stances  of  the  times.  Congress  can  not  know  what  to 
ji~ 

do  unless  the  Nation  knows  what  to  do,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  not  only  my  privilege  but  my  duty  to  go  out 
and  inform  my  fellow  countrymen  just  what  I  under 
stood  the  present  situation  to  be. 

What  are  the  elements  of  the  case?  In  the  first 
place,  and  most  obviously,  two-thirds  of  the  world  are 
at  war.  It  is  not  merely  a  European  struggle;  nations 
in  the  Orient  have  become  involved,  as  well  as  nations 
in  the  west,  and  everywhere  there  seems  to  be  creeping 
even  upon  the  nations  disengaged  the  spirit  and  the 
threat  of  war.  All  the  world  outside  of  America  is 
on  fire. 

Do  you  wonder  that  men's  imaginations  take  color 
from  the  situation?  Do  you  wonder  that  there  is  a 
great  reaction  against  war?  Do  you  wonder  that  the 
passion  for  peace  grows  stronger  as  the  spectacle  grows 
more  tremendous  and  more  overwhelming?  Do  you 
wonder,  on  the  other  hand,  that  men's  sympathies  be 
come  deeply  engaged  on  the  one  side  or  the  other? 
For  no  small  things  are  happening.  This  is  a  struggle 
which  will  determine  the  history  of  the  world,  I  dare 
say,  for  more  than  a  century  to  come.  The  world  will 
never  be  the  same  again  after  this  war  is  over.  The 
change  may  be  for  weal  or  it  may  be  for  woe,  but  it 

\, 

will  be  fundamental  and  tremendous. 

And  in  the  meantime  we,  the  people  of  the  United 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  165 

States,  are  the  one  great  disengaged  power,  the  one 
neutral  power,  finding  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  be 
neutral,  because,  like  men  everywhere  else,  we  are 
human;  we  have  the  deep  passions  of  mankind  in  us; 
we  have  sympathies  that  are  as  easily  stirred  as  the 
sympathies  of  any  other  people ;  we  have  interests  which 
we  see  being  drawn  slowly  into  the  maelstrom  of  this 
tremendous  upheaval.  It  is  very  difficult  for  us  to  hold 
off  and  look  with  cool  judgment  upon  such  stupendous 
matters. 

And  yet  we  have  held  off.  It  has  not  been  easy 
for  the  Government  at  Washington  to  avoid  the  en 
tanglements  which  seemed  to  beset  it  on  every  side. 
It  has  needed  a  great  deal  of  watchfulness  and  an 
unremitting  patience  to  do  so,  but  all  the  while  no 
American  could  fail  to  be  aware  that  America  did  not 
wish  to  become  engaged,  that  she  wished  to  hold  apart; 
not  because  she  did  not  perceive  the  issues  of  the 
struggle,  but  because  she  thought  her  duties  to  be  the 
duties  of  peace  and  of  separate  action.  And  all  the 
while  the  nations  themselves  that  were  engaged  seemed 
to  be  looking  to  us  for  some  sort  of  action,  not  hostile 
in  character  but  sympathetic  in  character.  Hardly  a 
single  thing  has  occurred  in  Europe  which  has  in  any 
degree  shocked  the  sensibilities  of  mankind  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  not  been  called 
upon  by  the  one  side  or  the  other  to  protest  and  inter 
vene  with  its  moral  influence,  if  not  with  its  physical 
force.  It  is  as  if  we  were  the  great  audience  before 
whom  this  stupendous  drama  is  being  played  out,  and 
we  are  asked  to  comment  upon  the  turns  and  crises 


166          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

of  the  plot.  And  not  only  are  we  the  audience,  and 
challenged  to  be  the  umpire  so  far  as  the  opinion  of 
the  world  is  concerned,  but  all  the  while  our  own  life 
touches  these  matters  at  many  points  of  vital  contact. 

The  United  States  is  trying  to  keep  up  the  processes 
of  peaceful  commerce  while  all  the  world  is  at  war 
and  while  all  the  world  is  in  need  of  the  essential 
things  which  the  United  States  produces,  and  yet  by 
an  oversight  for  which  it  is  difficult  to  forgive  our 
selves  we  did  not  provide  ourselves  when  there  was 
proper  peace  and  opportunity  with  a  mercantile  marine, 
by  means  of  which  we  could  carry  the  commerce  of 
the  world  without  the  interference  of  the  motives  of 
other  nations  which  might  be  engaged  in  controversy 
not  our  own;  and  so  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world 
is  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  the  nations  now 
embroiled  in  this  great  struggle.  Americans  have  gone 
to  all  quarters  of  the  world,  Americans  are  serving 
the  business  of  the  world  in  every  part  of  it,  and  every 
one  of  these  men  when  his  affairs  touch  the  regions 
that  are  on  fire  is  our  ward,  and  we  must  see  to  his 
rights  and  that  they  are  respected.  Do  you  not  see 
how  all  the  sensitive  places  of  our  life  touch  these 
great  disturbances? 

Now  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  what  is  it  that  we 
are  called  on  to  do  as  a  nation?  I  suppose  that  from 
the  first  America  has  had  one  peculiar  and  particular 
mission  in  the  world.  Other  nations  have  grown  rich, 
my  fellow  citizens,  other  nations  have  been  as  powerful 
as  we  in  material  resources  in  comparison  with  the 
other  nations  of  the  world,  other  nations  have  built  up 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  167 

empires  and  exercised  dominion;  we  are  not  peculiar 
in  any  of  these  things,  but  we  are  peculiar  in  this, 
that  from  the  first  we  have  dedicated  our  force  to  the 
service  of  justice  and  righteousness  and  peace.  We 
have  said,  "Our  chief  interest  is  not  in  the  rights  of 
property  but  in  the  rights  of  men;  our  chief  interest 
is  in  the  spirits  of  men  that  they  might  be  free,  that 
they  might  enjoy  their  lives  unmolested  so  long  as 
they  observed  the  just  rules  of  the  game,  that  they 
might  deal  with  their  fellow-men  with  their  heads 
erect,  the  subjects  and  servants  of  no  man;  the  servants 
only  of  the  principles  upon  which  their  lives  rested." 
And  America  has  done  more  than  care  for  her  own 
people  and  think  of  her  own  fortunes  in  these  great 
matters.  She  has  said  ever  since  the  time  of  President 
Monroe  that  she  was  the  champion  of  the  freedom  and 
the  separate  sovereignty  of  peoples  throughout  the 
Western  Hemisphere.  She  is  trustee  for  these  ideals 
and  she  is  pledged,  deeply  and  permanently  pledged, 
to  keep  these  momentous  promises. 

She  not  only,  therefore,  must  play  her  part  in 
keeping  this  conflagration  from  spreading  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States;  she  must  also  keep  this  con 
flagration  from  spreading  on  this  side  of  the  sea. 
These  are  matters  in  which  our  very  life  and  our 
whole  pride  are  embedded  and  rooted,  and  we  can 
never  draw  back  from  them.  And  I,  my  fellow  citi 
zens,  because  of  the  extraordinary  office  with  which 
you  have  intrusted  me,  must,  whether  I  will  or  not, 
be  your  responsible  spokesman  in  these  great  matters. 
It  is  my  duty,  therefore,  when  impressions  are  deeply 


168          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

borne  in  upon  me  with  regard  to  the  national  welfare 
to  speak  to  you  with  the  utmost  frankness  about  them, 
and  that  is  the  errand  upon  which  I  have  come  away 
from  Washington. 

For  my  own  part,  I  am  sorry  that  these  things  fall 
within  the  year  of  a  national  political  campaign.  They 
ought  to  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  politics. 
The  man  who  brings  partisan  feeling  into  these  matters 
and  seeks  partisan  advantage  by  means  of  them  is 
unworthy  of  your  confidence.  I  am  sorry  that  upon 
the  eve  of  a  campaign  we  should  be  obliged  to  discuss 
these  things,  for  fear  they  might  run  over  into  the 
campaign  and  seem  to  constitute  a  part  of  it.  Let  us 
forget  that  this  is  a  year  of  national  elections.  That 
is  neither  here  nor  there.  The  thing  to  do  now  is  for 
all  men  of  all  parties  to  think  along  the  same  lines 
and  do  the  same  things  and  forget  every  difference 
that  may  have  divided  them. 

And  what  ought  they  to  do?  In  the  first  place, 
they  ought  to  tell  the  truth.  There  have  been  some 
extraordinary  exaggerations  both  of  the  military  weak 
ness  and  the  military  strength  of  this  country.  Some 
men  tell  you  that  we  have  no  means  of  defense  and 
others  tell  you  that  we  have  sufficient  means  of  defense, 
and  neither  statement  is  true.  Take,  for  example,  the 
matter  of  our  coast  defenses.  It  is  obvious  to  every 
man  that  they  are  of  the  most  vital  importance  to 
the  country.  Such  coast  defenses  as  we  have  are  strong 

and   admirable,   but  we   have   not  got   coast   defenses 

0 

in  enough  places.  Their  quality  is  admirable,  but  their 
quantity  is  insufficient.  The  military  authorities  of 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  169 

this  country  have  not  been  negligent ;  they  have  sought 
adequate  appropriations  from  Congress,  and  in  most 
instances  have  obtained  them,  so  far  as  we  saw  the 
work  in  hand  that  it  was  necessary  to  do,  and  the 
work  that  they  have  done  in  the  use  of  these  appropria 
tions  has  been  admirable  and  skillful  work.  Do  not 
let  anybody  deceive  you  into  supposing  that  the  Army 
of  the  United  States,  so  far  as  it  has  had  opportunity, 
is  in  any  degree  unworthy  of  your  confidence. 

And  the  Navy  of  the  United  States.  You  have 
been  told  that  it  is  the  second  in  strength  in  the  world. 
I  am  sorry  to  say  that  experts  do  not  agree  with  those 
who  tell  you  that.  Reckoning  by  its  actual  strength, 
I  believe  it  to  be  one  of  the  most  efficient  navies  in 
the  world,  but  in  strength  it  ranks  fourth,  not  second. 
You  must  reckon  with  the  fact  that  it  is  necessary 
that  that  should  be  our  first  arm  of  defense,  and  you 
ought  to  insist  that  everything  should  be  done  that 
it  is  possible  for  us  to  do  to  bring  the  Navy /up  to  an 
adequate  standard  of  strength  and  efficiency. 

Where  we  are  chiefly  lacking  in  preparation  is  on 
land  and  in  the  number  of  men  who  are  ready  to  fight. 
Not  the  number  of  fighting  men,  but  the  number  of 
men  who  are  ready  to  fight.  Some  men  are  born 
troublesome,  some  men  have  trouble  thrust  upon  them, 
and  other  men  acquire  trouble.  I  think  I  belong  to 
the  second  class.  But  the  characteristic  desire  of 
America  is  not  that  she  should  have  a  great  body  of 
men  whose  chief  business  is  to  fight,  but  a  great  body 
of  men  who  know  how  to  fight  and  are  ready  to  fight 
when  anything  that  is  dear  to  the  Nation  is  threatened. 


170          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

You  might  have  what  we  have,  millions  of  men  who 
had  never  handled  arms  of  war,  who  are  mere  material 
for  shot  and  powder  if  you  put  them  in  the  field,  and 
America  would  be  ashamed  of  the  inefficiency  of  calling 
such  men  to  defend  the  Nation.  What  we  want  is  to 
associate  in  training  with  the  Army  of  the  United 
States  men  who  will  volunteer  for  a  sufficient  length 
of  time  every  year  to  get  a  rudimentary  acquaintance 
with  arms,  a  rudimentary  skill  in  handling  them,  a 
rudimentary  acquaintance  with  camp  life,  a  rudi 
mentary  acquaintance  with  military  drill  and  discipline ; 
and  we  ought  to  see  to  it  that  we  have  men  of  that 
sort  in  sufficient  number  to  constitute  an  initial 
army  when  we  need  an  army  for  the  defense  of  the 
country. 

I  have  heard  it  stated  that  there  are  probably  sev 
eral  million  men  in  this  country  who  have  received 
a  sufficient  amount  of  military  drill  either  here  or  in 
the  countries  in  which  they  were  born  and  from  which 
they  have  come  to  us.  Perhaps  there  are,  nobody 
knows,  because  there  is  no  means  of  counting  them; 
but  if  there  are  so  many,  they  are  not  obliged  to  come 
at  our  call;  we  do  not  know  who  they  are.  That  is  not 
military  preparation.  Military  preparation  consists  in 
the  existence  of  such  a  body  of  men  known  to  the 
Federal  authorities,  organized  provisionally  by  the  Fed 
eral  authorities,  and  subject  by  their  own  choice  and 
will  to  the  immediate  call  of  the  Federal  authorities. 

We  have  no  such  body  of  men  in  the  United  States 
except  the  National  Guard.  Now,  I  have  a  very  great 
respect  for  the  National  Guard.  I  have  been  asso- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  171 

elated  with  one  section  of  that  guard  in  one  of  the 
great  States  of  the  Union,  and  I  know  the  character 
of  the  officers  and  the  quality  of  the  men,  and  I  would 
trust  them  unhesitatingly  both  for  skill  and  for  effi 
ciency,  but  the  whole  National  Guard  of  the  United 
States  falls  short  of  130,000  men.  It  is  characterized 
by  a  very  great  variety  of  discipline  and  efficiency  as 
between  State  and  State,  and  it  is  by  the  Constitution 
itself  put  under  authority  of  more  than  two  score 
State  executives.  The  President  of  the  United  States 
has  not  the  right  to  call  on  these  men  except  in  the 
case  of  actual  invasion,  and,  therefore,  no  matter  how 
skillful  they  are,  no  matter  how  ready  they  are,  they 
are  not  the  instruments  for  immediate  National  use. 
I  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  ought 
to  do,  and  that  it  will  do,  a  great  deal  more  for  the 
National  Guard  than  it  ever  has  done,  and  everything 
ought  to  be  done  to  make  it  a  model  military  arm. 

But  that  is  not  the  arm  that  we  are  immediately 
interested  in.  We  are  interested  in  making  certain 
that  there  are  men  all  over  the  United  States  prepared, 
equipped,  and  ready  to  go  out  at  the  call  of  the  National 
Government  upon  the  shortest  possible  notice.  You 
will  ask  me,  "Why  do  you  say  the  shortest  possible 
notice?"  Because,  gentlemen,  let  me  tell  you  very 
solemnly  you  can  not  afford  to  postpone  this  thing. 
I  do  not  know  what  a  single  day  may  bring  forth. 
I  do  not  wish  to  leave  you  with  the  impression  that  I 
am  thinking  of  some  particular  danger;  I  merely  want 
to  leave  you  with  this  solemn  impression,  that  I  know 
that  we  are  daily  treading  amidst  the  most  intricate 


172          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

dangers,  and  that  the  dangers  that  we  are  treading 
amongst  are  not  of  our  making  and  are  not  under  our 
control,  and  that  no  man  in  the  United  States  knows 
what  a  single  week  or  a  single  day  or  a  single  hour 
may  bring  forth.  These  are  solemn  things  to  say  to 
you  but  I  would  be  unworthy  of  my  office  if  I  did  not 
come  out  and  tell  you  with  absolute  frankness  just 
exactly  what  I  understand  the  situation  to  be. 

I  do  not  wish  to  hurry  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States.  These  things  are  too  important  to  be  put 
through  without  very  thorough  sifting  and  debate  and 
I  am  not  in  the  least  jealous  of  any  of  the  searching 
processes  of  discussion.  That  is  what  free  people  are 
for,  to  understand  what  they  are  about  and  to  do  what 
they  wish  to  do  only  if  the}r  understand  what  they  are 
about.  But  it  is  impossible  to  discuss  the  details  of 
plans  in  great  bodies,  unorganized  bodies,  of  men  like 
this  audience,  for  example.  All  that  I  can  do  in  this 
presence  is  to  tell  you  what  I  know  of  the  necessities 
of  the  case,  and  to  ask  you  to  stand  back  of  the  execu 
tive  authorities  of  the  United  States  in  urging  upon 
those  who  make  our  laws  as  early  and  effective  action 
as  possible. 

America  is  not  afraid  of  anybody.  I  know  that  I 
express  your  feeling  and  the  feeling  of  all  our  fellow 
citizens  when  I  say  that  the  only  thing  I  am  afraid  of 
is  not  being  ready  to  perform  my  duty.  I  am  afraid 
of  the  danger  of  shame;  I  am  afraid  of  the  danger 
of  inadequacy;  I  am  afraid  of  the  danger  of  not 
being  able  to  express  the  great  character  of  this 
country  with  tremendous  might  and  effectiveness  when- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  173 

ever  we  are  called  upon  to  act  in  the  field  of  the 
world's  affairs. 

For  it  is  character  we  are  going  to  express,  not 
power  merely.  The  United  States  is  not  in  love  with 
the  aggressive  use  of  power.  It  despises  the  aggressive 
use  of  power.  There  is  not  a  foot  of  territory  belong 
ing  to  any  other  nation  which  this  Nation  covets  or 
desires.  There  is  not  a  privilege  which  we  ourselves 
enjoy  that  we  would  dream  of  denying  any  other  na 
tion  in  the  world.  If  there  is  one  thing  that  the 
American  people  love  and  believe  in  more  than  another 
it  is  peace  and  all  the  handsome  things  that  belong  to 
peace.  I  hope  that  you  will  bear  me  out  in  saying 
that  I  have  proved  that  I  am  a  partisan  of  peace. 
I  would  be  ashamed  to  be  belligerent  and  impatient 
when  the  fortunes  of  my  whole  country  and  the  happi 
ness  of  all  my  fellow  countrymen  were  involved.  But 
I  know  that  peace  is  not  always  within  the  choice  of 
the  Nation,  and  I  want  to  remind  you,  and  remind 
you  very  solemnly,  of  the  double  obligation  you  have 
laid  upon  me.  I  know  you  have  laid  it  upon  me  be 
cause  I  am  constantly  reminded  of  it  in  conversation, 
by  letter,  in  editorial,  by  means  of  every  voice  that 
comes  to  me  out  of  the  body  of  the  Nation.  You  have 
laid  upon  me  this  double  obligation:  "We  are  relying 
upon  you,  Mr.  President,  to  keep  us  out  of  this  war, 
but  we  are  relying  upon  you,  Mr.  President,  to  keep 
the  honor  of  the  Nation  unstained." 

Do  you  not  see  that  a  time  may  come  when  it  is 
impossible  to  do  both  of  these  things?  Do  you  not 
see  that  if  I  am  to  guard  the  honor  of  the'  Nation, 


174          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

I  am  not  protecting  it  against  itself,  for  we  are  not 
going  to  do  anything  to  stain  the  honor  of  our  own 
country.  I  am  protecting  it  against  things  that  I  can 
not  control,  the  action  of  others.  And  where  the  action 
of  others  may  bring  us  I  can  not  foretell.  You  may 
count  upon  my  heart  and  resolution  to  keep  you  out 
of  the  war,  but  you  must  be  ready  if  it  is  necessary 
that  I  should  maintain  your  honor.  That  is  the  only 
thing  a  real  man  loves  about  himself.  Some  men  who 
are  not  real  men  love  other  things  about  themselves, 
but  the  real  man  believes  that  his  honor  is  dearer 
than  his  life;  and  a  nation  is  merely  all  of  us  put 
together,  and  the  Nation's  honor  is  dearer  than  the 
Nation's  comfort  and  the  Nation's  peace  and  the  Na 
tion's  life  itself.  So  that  we  must  know  what  we  have 
thrown  into  the  balance;  we  must  know  the  infinite 
issues  which  are  impending  every  day  of  the  year,  and 
when  we  go  to  bed  at  night  and  when  we  rise  in  the 
morning,  and  at  every  interval  of  the  rush  of  business, 
we  must  remind  ourselves  that  we  are  part  of  a  great 
body  politic  in  which  are  vested  some  of  the  highest 
hopes  of  the  human  race. 

Why  is  it  that  all  nations  turn  to  us  with  the  in 
stinctive  feeling  that  if  anything  touches  humanity  it 
touches  us?  Because  it  knows  that  ever  since  we  were 
born  as  a  Nation  we  have  undertaken  to  be  the  cham 
pions  of  humanity  and  of  the  rights  of  men.  Without 
that  ideal  there  would  be  nothing  that  would  distinguish 
America  from  her  predecessors  in  the  history  of  nations. 
Why  is  it  that  men  who  loved  liberty  have  crowded  to 
these  shores'?  Why  is  it  that  we  greet  them  as  they 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  175 

enter  the  great  harbor  at  New  York  with  that  majestic 
Statue  of  Liberty  holding  up  a  torch  whose  visionary 
beams  are  meant  to  spread  abroad  over  the  waters  of 
the  world,  and  to  say  to  all  men,  "Come  to  America 
where  mankind  is  free  and  where  we  love  all  the  works 
of  righteousness  and  of  peace." 


LETTER  TO  SENATOR  STONE,  FEBRUARY 

24,  1916,  IN  REPLY  TO  A  LETTER  OF 

THE  SAME  DATE 

The  right  of  Americans  to  travel  upon  British  passenger  steamers  going 
to  and  fron?  Europe  was  admitted  by  the  authorities  and  people  of  the  United 
States,  but  the  expediency  of  the  exercise  of  the  right  was  doubted  by  some 
in  view  of  the  danger  to  which  ships  were  exposed  in  that  part  of  the  high  seas 
surrounding  Great  Britain  which  Germany,  on  February  4,  1915,  had  declared 
to  be  a  war  zone,  and  the  waters  of  which  were  infested  with  its  submarines 
attacking  indiscriminately  enemy  or  neutral  ships,  or  enemy  ships  with  neutral 
persons  and  cargo  aboard.  Senator  William  J.  Stone,  Chairman  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  on  this 
subject  dated  February  24,  1916.  In  reply  to  this  communication,  President 
Wilson  wrote  the  following  letter. 

MY  DEAR  SENATOR: 

I  very  warmly  appreciate  your  kind  and  frank  letter 
of  to-day,  and  feel  that  it  calls  for  an  equally  frank 
reply. 

You  are  right  in  assuming  that  I  shall  do  everything 
in  my  power  to  keep  the  United  States  out  of  war.  I 
think  the  country  will  feel  no  uneasiness  about  my 
course  in  that  respect.  Through  many  anxious  months 
I  have  striven  for  that  object,  amid  difficulties  more 
manifold  than  can  have  been  apparent  upon  the  sur 
face,  and  so  far  I  have  succeeded.  I  do  not  doubt  that 
I  shall  continue  to  succeed.  The  course  which  the  Cen 
tral  European  powers  have  announced  their  intention 
of  following  in  the  future  with  regard  to  undersea  war 
fare  seems  for  the  moment  to  threaten  insuperable  ob 
stacles,  but  its  apparent  meaning  is  so  manifestly  incon- 

176 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  177 

sistent  with  explicit  assurances  recently  given  us  by 
those  powers  with  regard  to  their  treatment  of  mer 
chant  vessels  on  the  high  seas  that  I  must  believe  that 
explanations  will  presently  ensue  which  will  put  a  dif 
ferent  aspect  upon  it.  We  have  had  no  reason  to  ques 
tion  their  good  faith  or  their  fidelity  to  their  promises 
in  the  past,  and  I  for  one  feel  confident  that  we  shall 
have  none  in  the  future. 

But  in  any  event  our  duty  is  clear.  No  nation,  no 
group  of  nations,  has  the  right,  while  war  is  in  progress, 
to  alter  or  disregard  the  principles  which  all  nations 
have  agreed  upon  in  mitigation  of  the  horrors  and  suf 
ferings  of  war ;  and  if  the  clear  rights  of  American  citi 
zens  should  very  unhappily  be  abridged  or  denied  by 
any  such  action,  we  should,  it  seems  to  me,  have  in 
honor  no  choice  as  to  what  our  own  course  should  be. 

For  my  own  part,  I  cannot  consent  to  any  abridg 
ment  of  the  rights  of  American  citizens  in  any  respect. 
The  honor  and  self-respect  of  the  Nation  is  involved. 
We  covet  peace,  and  shall  preserve  it  at  any  cost  but 
the  loss  of  honor.  To  forbid  our  people  to  exercise  their 
rights  for  fear  we  might  be  called  upon  to  vindicate 
them  would  be  a  deep  humiliation  indeed.  It  would  be 
an  implicit,  all  but  an  explicit,  acquiescence  in  the  vio 
lation  of  the  rights  of  mankind  everywhere  and  of  what 
ever  nation  or  allegiance.  It  would  be  a  deliberate  abdi 
cation  of  our  hitherto  proud  position  as  spokesman, 
even  amid  the  turmoil  of  war,  for  the  law  and  the  right. 
It  would  make  everything  this  Government  has  at 
tempted  and  everything  that  it  has  accomplished  during 
this  terrible  struggle  of  nations  meaningless  and  futile. 


178          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

It  is  important  to  reflect  that  if  in  this  instance  we 
allowed  expediency  to  take  the  place  of  principle  the 
door  would  inevitably  be  opened  to  still  further  conces 
sions.  Once  accept  a  single  abatement  of  right,  and 
many  other  humiliations  would  certainly  follow,  and  the 
whole  fine  fabric  of  international  law  might  crumble 
under  our  hands  piece  by  piece.  What  we  are  contend 
ing  for  in  this  matter  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the 
things  that  have  made  America  a  sovereign  nation.  She 
cannot  yield  them  without  conceding  her  own  impotency 
as  a  Nation  and  making  virtual  surrender  of  her  inde 
pendent  position  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

I  am  speaking,  my  dear  Senator,  in  deep  solemnity, 
without  heat,  with  a  clear  consciousness  of  the  high 
responsibilities  of  my  office  and  as  your  sincere  and 
devoted  friend.  If  we  should  unhappily  differ,  we  shall 
differ  as  friends,  but  where  issues  so  momentous  as 
these  are  involved  we  must,  just  because  we  are  friends, 
speak  our  minds  without  reservation. 

Faithfully  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 


LETTER  TO  REPRESENTATIVE  POU, 
FEBRUARY  29,  1916 

A  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  February 
22,  1916,  requesting  the  President  to  ask  all  Americans  to  refrain  from 
traveling  upon  belligerent,  that  is  to  say  British  merchant  ships,  and 
warning  them  that  they  did  so  at  their  own  peril  and  that,  by  doing  so,  they 
forfeited  the  protection  of  the  United  States.1  The  passage  of  such  a  resolution 
tvould  have  embarrassed  the  Administration  in  its  negotiations  with  Germany, 
which  denied  this  right  to  Americans;  and  a  very  considerable  vote  for  this 
resolution  would  have  shown  a  division  on  this  subject  and  would  have  been 
unfortunate,  as  indicating  a  division  of  opinion  on  foreign  policy,  in  which 
and  about  which  the  American  people  should  be  a  unit.  Therefore  the  President 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  bring  the  matter  to  the  test  of  a  vote  in  the 
Congress. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  Pou: 

Inasmuch  as  I  learn  that  Mr.  Henry,  the  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Rules,  is  absent  in  Texas,  I  take 
the  liberty  of  calling  your  attention,  as  ranking  mem 
ber  of  the  committee,  to  a  matter  of  grave  concern  to 
the  country  which  can,  I  believe,  be  handled,  under  the 
rules  of  the  House,  only  by  that  committee. 

The  report  that  there  are  divided  counsels  in  Con 
gress  in  regard  to  the  foreign  policy  of  the  Government 
is  being  made  industrious  use  of  in  foreign  capitals.  I 
believe  that  report  to  be  false,  but  so  long  as  it  is  any 
where  credited  it  cannot  fail  to  do  the  greatest  harm 
and  expose  the  country  to  the  most  serious  risks.  I 
therefore  feel  justified  in  asking  that  your  committee 
will  permit  me  to  urge  an  early  vote  upon  the  resolu 
tions  with  regard  to  travel  on  armed  merchantmen 

1  On  this  subject  see  the  memorandum  transmitted  to  the  Committee  on  For 
eign  Affairs,  House  of  Representatives,  March  4,  1916.  Appendix,  pp.  411-424. 

179 


180          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

which  have  recently  been  so  much  talked  about,  in 
order  that  there  may  be  afforded  an  immediate  oppor 
tunity  for  full  public  discussion  and  action  upon  them 
and  that  all  doubts  and  conjectures  may  be  swept  away 
and  our  foreign  relations  once  more  cleared  of  damag 
ing  misunderstandings. 

The  matter  is  of  so  grave  importance  and  lies  so 
clearly  within  the  field  of  Executive  initiative  that  I 
venture  to  hope  that  your  committee  will  not  think  that 
I  am  taking  an  unwarranted  liberty  in  making  this 
suggestion  as  to  the  business  of  the  House;  and  I  very 
earnestly  commend  it  to  their  immediate  consideration. 
Cordially  and  sincerely,  yours, 

WOODROW  WILSON. 


ADDRESS    ON    GERMAN    SUBMARINE    WAR 
FARE,  DELIVERED  AT  A  JOINT  SES 
SION   OF   THE   TWO   HOUSES   OF 
CONGRESS,  APRIL  19,  1916 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

A  situation  has  arisen  in  the  foreign  relations  of  the 
country  of  which  it  is  my  plain  duty  to  inform  you 
very  frankly. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  in  February,  1915,  the  Im 
perial  German  Government  announced  its  intention  to 
treat  the  waters  surrounding  Great  Britain  and  Ire 
land  as  embraced  within  the  seat  of  war  and  to  destroy 
all  merchant  ships  owned  by  its  enemies  that  might  be 
found  within  any  part  of  that  portion  of  the  high  seas, 
and  that  it  warned  all  vessels,  of  neutral  as  well  as  of 
belligerent  ownership,  to  keep  out  of  the  waters  it  had 
thus  proscribed  or  else  enter  them  at  their  peril.  The 
Government  of  the  United  States  earnestly  protested. 
It  took  the  position  that  such  a  policy  could  not  be 
pursued  without  the  practical  certainty  of  gross  and 
palpable  violations  of  the  law  of  nations,  particularly  if 
submarine  craft  were  to  be  employed  as  its  instruments, 
inasmuch  as  the  rules  prescribed  by  that  law,  rules 
founded  upon  principles  of  humanity  and  established 
for  the  protection  of  the  lives  of  non-combatants  at  sea, 
could  not  in  the  nature  of  the  case  be  observed  by  such 
vessels.  It  based  its  protest  on  the  ground  that  persons 
of  neutral  nationality  and  vessels  of  neutral  ownership 
would  be  exposed  to  extreme  and  intolerable  risks,  and 

181 


182          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

that  no  right  to  close  any  part  of  the  high  seas  against 
their  use  or  to  expose  them  to  such  risks  could  law 
fully  be  asserted  by  any  belligerent  government.  The 
law  of  nations  in  these  matters,  upon  which  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  based  its  protest,  is  not 
of  recent  origin  or  founded  upon  merely  arbitrary  prin 
ciples  set  up  by  convention.  It  is  based,  on  the  con 
trary,  upon  manifest  and  imperative  principles  of 
humanity  and  has  long  been  established  with  the  ap 
proval  and  by  the  express  assent  of  all  civilized  nations. 

Notwithstanding  the  earnest  protest  of  our  Govern 
ment,  the  Imperial  German  Government  at  once  pro 
ceeded  to  carry  out  the  policy  it  had  announced.  It  ex 
pressed  the  hope  that  the  dangers  involved,  at  any  rate 
the  dangers  to  neutral  vessels,  would  be  reduced  to  a 
minimum  by  the  instructions  which  it  had  issued  to  its 
submarine  commanders,  and  assured  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  that  it  would  take  every  possible  pre 
caution  both  to  respect  the  rights  of  neutrals  and  to 
safeguard  the  lives  of  non-combatants. 

What  has  actually  happened  in  the  year  which  has 
since  elapsed  has  shown  that  those  hopes  were  not  justi 
fied,  those  assurances  insusceptible  of  being  fulfilled. 
In  pursuance  of  the  policy  of  submarine  warfare  against 
the  commerce  of  its  adversaries,  thus  announced  and 
entered  upon  by  the  Imperial  German  Government  in 
despite  of  the  solemn  protest  of  this  Government,  the 
commanders  of  German  undersea  vessels  have  attacked 
merchant  ships  with  greater  and  greater  activity,  not 
only  upon  the  high  seas  surrounding  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  but  wherever  they  could  encounter  them,  in  a 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  183 

way  that  has  grown  more  and  more  ruthless,  more  ai 
more  indiscriminate  as  the  months  have  gone  by,  less 
and  less  observant  of  restraints  of  any  kind;  and  have 
delivered  their  attacks  without  compunction  against 
vessels  of  every  nationality  and  bound  upon  every  sort 
of  errand.  Vessels  of  neutral  ownership,  even  vessels 
of  neutral  ownership  bound  from  neutral  port  to  neu 
tral  port,  have  been  destroyed  along  with  vessels  of  bel 
ligerent  ownership  in  constantly  increasing  numbers. 
Sometimes  the  merchantman  attacked  has  been  warned 
and  summoned  to  surrender  before  being  fired  on  or 
torpedoed;  sometimes  passengers  or  crews  have  been 
vouchsafed  the  poor  security  of  being  allowed  to  take 
to  the  ship's  boats  before  she  was  sent  to  the  bottom. 
But  again  and  again  no  warning  has  been  given,  no 
escape  even  to  the  ship's  boats  allowed  to  those  on 
board.  What  this  Government  foresaw  must  happen 
has  happened.  Tragedy  has  followed  tragedy  on  the 
seas  in  such  fashion,  with  such  attendant  circumstances, 
as  to  make  it  grossly  evident  that  warfare  of  such  a 
sort,  if  warfare  it  be,  cannot  be  carried  on  without  the 
most  palpable  violation  of  the  dictates  alike  of  right  and 
of  humanity.  Whatever  the  disposition  and  intention  of 
the  Imperial  German  Government,  it  has  manifestly 
proved  impossible  for  it  to  keep  such  methods  of  attack 
upon  the  commerce  of  its  enemies  within  the  bounds 
set  by  either  the  reason  or  the  heart  of  mankind. 

In  February  of  the  present  year  the  Imperial  Ger 
man  Government  informed  this  Government  and  the 
other  neutral  governments  of  the  world  that  it  had 
reason  to  believe  that  the  Government  of  Great  Britain 


184          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

had  armed  all  merchant  vessels  of  British  ownership 
and  had  given  them  secret  orders  to  attack  any  sub 
marine  of  the  enemy  they  might  encounter  upon  the 
seas,  and  that  the  Imperial  German  Government  felt 
justified  in  the  circumstances  in  treating  all  armed  mer 
chantmen  of  belligerent  ownership  as  auxiliary  vessels 
of  war,  which  it  would  have  the  right  to  destroy  with 
out  warning.  The  law  of  nations  has  long  recognized 
the  right  of  merchantmen  to  carry  arms  for  protection 
and  to  use  them  to  repel  attack,  though  to  use  them, 
in  such  circumstances,  at  their  own  risk;  but  the  Im 
perial  German  Government  claimed  the  right  to  set 
these  understandings  aside  in  circumstances  which  it 
deemed  extraordinary.  Even  the  terms  in  which  it 
announced  its  purpose  thus  still  further  to  relax  the 
restraints  it  had  previously  professed  its  willingness 
and  desire  to  put  upon  the  operations  of  its  submarines 
carried  the  plain  implication  that  at  least  vessels  which 
were  not  armed  would  still  be  exempt  from  destruction 
without  warning  and  that  personal  safety  would  be 
accorded  their  passengers  and  crews;  but  even  that 
limitation,  if  it  was  ever  practicable  to  observe  it,  has 
in  fact  constituted  no  check  at  all  upon  the  destruction 
of  ships  of  every  sort. 

Again  and  again  the  Imperial  German  Government 
has  given  this  Government  its  solemn  assurances  that 
at  least  passenger  ships  would  not  be  thus  dealt  with, 
and  yet  it  has  again  and  again  permitted  its  undersea 
commanders  to  disregard  those  assurances  with  entire 
impunity.  Great  liners  like  the  Lusitania  and  the 
Arabic  and  mere  ferryboats  like  the  Sussex  have  been 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  185 

attacked  without  a  moment's  warning,  sometimes  before 
they  had  even  become  aware  that  they  were  in  the 
presence  of  an  armed  vessel  of  the  enemy,  and  the  lives 
of  non-combatants,  passengers  and  crew,  have  been  sac 
rificed  wholesale,  in  a  manner  which  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  cannot  but  regard  as  wanton  and 
without  the  slightest  color  of  justification.  No  limit  of 
any  kind  has  in  fact  been  set  to  the  indiscriminate  pur 
suit  and  destruction  of  merchantmen  of  all  kinds  and 
nationalities  within  the  waters,  constantly  extending  in 
area,  where  these  operations  have  been  carried  on;  and 
the  roll  of  Americans  who  have  lost  their  lives  on  ships 
thus  attacked  and  destroyed  has  grown  month  by  month 
until  the  ominous  toll  has  mounted  into  the  hundreds. 
One  of  the  latest  and  most  shocking  instances  of  this 
method  of  warfare  was  that  of  the  destruction  of  the 
French  cross-Channel  steamer  Sussex.  It  must  stand 
forth,  as  the  sinking  of  the  steamer  Lusitania  did,  as 
so  singularly  tragical  and  unjustifiable  as  to  constitute 
a  truly  terrible  example  of  the  inhumanity  of  submarine 
warfare  as  the  commanders  of  German  vessels  have  for 
the  past  twelvemonth  been  conducting  it.  If  this  in 
stance  stood  alone,  some  explanation,  some  disavowal  by 
the  German  Government,  some  evidence  of  criminal  mis 
take  or  willful  disobedience  on  the  part  of  the  com 
mander  of  the  vessel  that  fired  the  torpedo  might  be 
sought  or  entertained;  but  unhappily  it  does  not  stand 
alone.  Recent  events  make  the  conclusion  inevitable 
that  it  is  only  one  instance,  even  though  it  be  one  of  the 
most  extreme  and  distressing  instances,  of  the  spirit 
and  method  of  warfare  which  the  Imperial  German 


186          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Government  has  mistakenly  adopted,  and  which  from 
the  first  exposed  that  Government  to  the  reproach  of 
thrusting  all  neutral  rights  aside  in  pursuit  of  its  imme 
diate  objects. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  very 
patient.  At  every  stage  of  this  distressing  experience 
of  tragedy  after  tragedy  in  which  its  own  citizens  were 
involved  it  has  sought  to  be  restrained  from  any  extreme 
course  of  action  or  of  protest  by  a  thoughtful  consider 
ation  of  the  extraordinary  circumstances  of  this  un 
precedented  war,  and  actuated  in  all  that  it  said  or 
did  by  the  sentiments  of  genuine  friendship  which  the 
people  of  the  United  States  have  always  entertained 
and  continue  to  entertain  towards  the  German  nation. 
It  has  of  course  accepted  the  successive  explanations  and 
assurances  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  as  given 
in  entire  sincerity  and  good  faith,  and  has  hoped,  even 
against  hope,  that  it  would  prove  to  be  possible  for  the 
German  Government  so  to  order  and  control  the  acts 
of  its  naval  commanders  as  to  square  its  policy  with 
the  principles  of  humanity  as  embodied  in  the  law  of 
nations.  It  has  been  willing  to  wait  until  the  signifi 
cance  of  the  facts  became  absolutely  unmistakable  and 
susceptible  of  but  one  interpretation. 

That  point  has  now  unhappily  been  reached.  The 
facts  are  susceptible  of  but  one  interpretation.  The 
Imperial  German  Government  has  been  unable  to  put 
any  limits  or  restraints  upon  its  warfare  against  either 
freight  or  passenger  ships.  It  has  therefore  become 
painfully  evident  that  the  position  which  this  Govern 
ment  took  at  the  very  outset  is  inevitable,  namely,  that 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  187 

the  use  of  submarines  for  the  destruction  of  an  enemy's 
commerce  is  of  necessity,  because  of  the  very  character 
of  the  vessels  employed  and  the  very  methods  of  attack 
which  their  employment  of  course  involves,  incompatible 
with  the  principles  of  humanity,  the  long  established  and 
incontrovertible  rights  of  neutrals,  and  the  sacred  im 
munities  of  non-combatants. 

I  have  deemed  it  my  duty,  therefore,  to  say  to  the 
Imperial  German  Government  that  if  it  is  still  its  pur 
pose  to  prosecute  relentless  and  indiscriminate  warfare 
against  vessels  of  commerce  by  the  use  of  submarines, 
notwithstanding  the  now  demonstrated  impossibility  of 
conducting  that  warfare  in  accordance  with  what  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  must  consider  the 
sacred  and  indisputable  rules  of  international  law  and 
the  universally  recognized  dictates  of  humanity,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  is  at  last  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  is  but  one  course  it  can  pursue; 
and  that  unless  the  Imperial  German  Government  should 
now  immediately  declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of 
its  present  methods  of  warfare  against  passenger  and 
freight  carrying  vessels  this  Government  can  have  no 
choice  but  to  sever  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  German  Empire  altogether. 

This  decision  I  have  arrived  at  with  the  keenest 
regret;  the  possibility  of  the  action  contemplated  I  am 
sure  all  thoughtful  Americans  will  look  forward  to  with 
unaffected  reluctance.  But  we  cannot  forget  that  we 
are  in  some  sort  and  by  the  force  of  circumstances  the 
responsible  spokesmen  of  the  rights  of  humanity,  and 
that  we  cannot  remain  silent  while  those  rights  seem  in 


188          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

process  of  being  swept  utterly  away  in  the  maelstrom  of 
this  terrible  war.  We  owe  it  to  a  due  regard  for  our 
own  rights  as  a  nation,  to  our  sense  of  duty  as  a  rep 
resentative  of  the  rights  of  neutrals  the  world  over, 
and  to  a  just  conception  of  the  rights  of  mankind  to 
take  this  stand  now  with  the  utmost  solemnity  and 
firmness. 

I  have  taken  it,  and  taken  it  in  the  confidence  that 
it  will  meet  with  your  approval  and  support.  All  sober- 
minded  men  must  unite  in  hoping  that  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  which  has  in  other  circumstances 
stood  as  the  champion  of  all  that  we  are  now  contending 
for  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  may  recognize  the  jus 
tice  of  our  demands  and  meet  them  in  the  spirit  in 
which  they  are  made. 


ADDRESS   DELIVERED  AT   THE   FIRST  AN 
NUAL   ASSEMBLAGE   OF   THE   LEAGUE 
TO  ENFORCE  PEACE,  WASHINGTON, 
MAY  27,  1916 

The  League  to  Enforce  Peace  was  formed  at  Philadelphia  on  June  17,  1915, 
proposing  a  league  of  the  nations  to  submit  their  justiciable  disputes  to  the 
decision  of  an  international  court  of  justice;  their  non-justiciable  disputes  to  a 
council  of  conciliation  for  investigation  and  report,  leaving  to  public  opinion  the 
enforcement  of  the  decision  of  the  court  and  the  report  of  the  Council;  pledging 
the  combined  force  of  the  members  of  the  League  to  restrain  a  member  thereof 
from  going  to  war  with  another  member  before  the  submission  of  the  dispute  to 
court  or  council,  at  the  request  of  the  other  disputant;  and  finally,  an  agreement 
of  the  members  of  the  League  to  hold  conferences  from  time  to  time,  to  agree 
upon  the  principles  of  international  law  to  be  applied  by  the  court  in  the  settle 
ment  of  disputes  submitted  to  it.-  At  the  banquet  of  the  League  held  in  Wash 
ington,  May  27,  1916,  the  President  delivered  the  following  address. 

When  the  invitation  to  be  here  to-night  came  to  me, 
I  was  glad  to  accept  it, — not  because  it  offered  me  an 
opportunity  to  discuss  the  program  of  the  League, — 
that  you  will,  I  am  sure,  not  expect  of  me, — but  because 
the  desire  of  the  whole  world  now  turns  eagerly,  more 
and  more  eagerly,  towards  the  hope  of  peace,  and  there 
is  just  reason  why  we  should  take  our  part  in  counsel 
upon  this  great  theme.  It  is  right  that  I,  as  spokesman 
of  our  Government,  should  attempt  to  give  expression 
to  what  I  believe  to  be  the  thought  and  purpose  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  in  this  vital  matter. 

This  great  war  that  broke  so  suddenly  upon  the  world 

189 


190          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

two  years  ago,  and  which  has  swept  within  its  flame  so 
great  a  part  of  the  civilized  world,  has  affected  us  very 
profoundly,  and  we  are  not  only  at  liberty,  it  is  perhaps 
our  duty,  to  speak  very  frankly  of  it  and  of  the  great 
interests  of  civilization  which  it  affects. 

With  its  causes  and  its  objects  we  are  not  con 
cerned.  The  obscure  fountains  from  which  its  stupen 
dous  flood  has  burst  forth  we  are  not  interested  to 
search  for  or  explore.  But  so  great  a  flood,  spread  far 
and  wide  to  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  has  of  neces 
sity  engulfed  many  a  fair  province  of  right  that  lies 
very  near  to  us.  Our  own  rights  as  a  Nation,  the  liber 
ties,  the  privileges,  and  the  property  of  our  people  have 
been  profoundly  affected.  We  are  not  mere  discon 
nected  lookers-on.  The  longer  the  war  lasts,  the  more 
deeply  do  we  become  concerned  that  it  should  be  brought 
to  an  end  and  the  world  be  permitted  to  resume  its 
normal  life  and  course  again.  And  when  it  does  come 
to  an  end  we  shall  be  as  much  concerned  as  the  nations 
at  war  to  see  peace  assume  an  aspect  of  permanence, 

*"T™" * 

give  promise  of  days  from  which  the  anxiety  of  uncer 
tainty  shall  be  lifted,  bring  some  assurance  that  peace 
and  war  shall  always  hereafter  be  reckoned  part  of 
the  common  interest  of  mankind.  PWe  are  participants, 
whether  we  would  or  not,  in  the  life  of  the  world.  The 
interests  of  all  nations  are  our  own  also.  We  are  part 
ners  with  the  rest.  What  affects  mankind  is  inevitably 
our  affair  as  well  as  the  affair  of  the  nations  of  Europe 
and  of  Asia.  J 

One  observation  on  the  causes  of  the  present  war  we 
are  at  liberty  to  make,  and  to  make  it  may  throw  some 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  191 

light  forward  upon  the  future,  as  well  as  backward 
upon  the  past.  It  is  plain  that  this  war  could  have  come 
only  as  it  did,  suddenly  and  out  of  secret  counsels,  with 
out  warning  to  the  world,  without  discussion,  without 
any  of  the  deliberate  movements  of  counsel  with  which 
it  would  seem  natural  to  approach  so  stupendous  a  con 
test.  It  is  probable  that  if  it  had  been  foreseen  just 
what  would  happen,  just  what  alliances  would  be  formed, 
just  what  forces  arrayed  against  one  another,  those  who 
brought  the  great  contest  on  would  have  been  glad  to 
substitute  conference  for  forte.  If  we  ourselves  had 
been  afforded  some  opportunity  to  apprise  the  belliger 
ents  of  the  attitude  which  it  would  be  our  duty  to  take, 
of  the  policies  and  practices  against  which  we  would 
feel  bound  to  use  all  our  moral  and  economic  strength, 
and  in  certain  circumstances  even  our  physical  strength 
also,  our  own  contribution  to  the  counsel  which  might 
have  averted  the  struggle  would  have  been  considered 
worth  weighing  and  regarding. 

[And  the  lesson  which  the  shock  of  being  taken  by 
surprise  in  a  matter  so  deeply  vital  to  all  the  nations 
of  the  world  has  made  poignantly  clear  is,  that  the  peace 
of  the  world  must  henceforth  depend  upon  a  new  and 
more  wholesome  diplomacy.  Only  when  the  great  na 
tions  of  the  world  have  reached  some  sort  of  agreement 
as  to  what  they  hold  to  be  fundamental  to  their  com 
mon  interest,  and  as  to  some  feasible  method  of  acting 
in  concert  when  any  nation  or  group  of  nations  seeks 
to  disturb  those  fundamental  things,  can  we  feel  that 
civilization  is  at  last  in  a  way  of  justifying  its  existence 
and  claiming  to  be  finally  established.  It  is  clear  that 


192          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

nations  must  in  the  future  be  governed  by  the  same 
high  code  of  honor  that  we  demand  of  individuals,! 

We  must,  indeed,  in  the  very  same  breath  with  which 
we  avow  this  conviVt.ion  admit  that  we  have  ourselves 
upon  occasion  in  the  past  been  offenders  against  the  law 
of  diplomacy  which  we  thus  forecast;  but  our  convic 
tion  is  not  the  less  clear,  but  rather  the  more  clear,  on 
that  account.  If  this  war  has  accomplished  nothing  else 
for  the  benefit  of  the  world,  it  has  at  least  disclosed  a 
great  moral  necessity  and  set  forward  the  thinking  of 
the  statesmen  of  the  world  by  a  whole  age.  Repeated 
utterances  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  most  of  the  great 
nations  now  engaged  in  war  have  made  it  plain  that 
their  thought  has  come  to  this,  (that  the  principle  of 
public  right  must  henceforth  take  precedence  over  the 
individual  interests  of  particular  nations,  and  that  the 
nations  of  the  world  must  in  some  way  band  themselves 
together  to  see  that  that  right  prevails  as  against  any 
sort  of  selfish  aggression;  that  henceforth  alliance  must 
not  be  set  up  against  alliance,  understanding  against 
understanding,  but  that  there  must  be  a  common  agree 
ment  for  a  common  object,  and  that  at  the  heart  of 
that  common  object  must  lie  the  inviolable  rights  of 
peoples  and  of  mankind.  The  nations  of  the  world  have 
become  each  other's  neighbors.  It  is  to  their  interest 
that  they  should  understand  each  other.  In  order  that 
they  may  understand  each  other,  it  is  imperative  that 
they  should  agree  to  co-operate  in  a  common  cause,  and 
that  they  should  so  act  that  the  guiding  principle  of 
that  common  cause  shall  be  even-handed  and  impartial 
justice.  Ji 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  193 

This  is  undoubtedly  the  thought  of  America.  This 
is  what  we  ourselves  will  say  when  there  comes  proper 
occasion  to  say  it.  In  the  dealings  of  nations  with  one 
another  arbitrary  force  must  be  rejected  and  we  must 
move  forward  to  the  thought  of  the  modern  world,  the 
thought  of  which  peace  is  the  very  atmosphere.  That 
thought  constitutes  a  chief  part  of  the  passionate  con- 

viction  of  America. 

• j 

We  believe  these  fundamental  things:  First,  that 
every  people  has  a  right  to  choose  the  sovereignty  under 
which  they  shall  live.  Like  other  nations,  we  have  our 
selves  no  doubt  once  and  again  offended  against  that 
principle  when  for  a  little  while  controlled  by  selfish 
passion,  as  our  franker  historians  have  been  honorable 
enough  to  admit ;  but  it  has  become  more  and  more  our___^ 
rule  of  life  and  action.  Second,  that  the  small  states 
of  the  world  have  a  right  to  enjoy  the  same  respect  for 
their  sovereignty  and  for  their  territorial  integrity  that 
great  and  powerful  nations  expect  and  insist  upon. 
And,  third,  that  the  world  has  a  right  to  be  free  from~~1 
every  disturbance  of  its  peace  that  has  its  origin  in 
aggression  and  disregard  of  the  rights  of  peoples  and 
nations. 

So  sincerely  do  we  believe  in  these  things  that  I  am 
sure  that  I  speak  the  mind  and  wish  of  the  people  of 
America  when  I  say  that  the  United  States  is  willing 
to  become  a  partner  in  any  feasible  association  of 
nations  formed  in  order  to  realize  these  objects  and 
make  them  secure  against  violation. 

There  is  nothing  that  the  United  States  wants  for 
itself  that  any  other  nation  has.  We  are  willing,  on  the 


194          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

contrary,  to  limit  ourselves  along  with  them  to  a 
prescribed  course  of  duty  and  respect  for  the  rights 
of  others  which  will  check  any  selfish  passion  of  our 
own,  as  it  will  check  any  aggressive  impulse  of 
theirs. 

If  it  should  ever  be  our  privilege  to  suggest  or 
initiate  a  movement  for  peace  among  the  nations  now 
at  war,  I  am  sure  that  the  people  of  the  United  States 
would  wish  their  Government  to  move  along  these 
lines:  First,  such  a  settlement  with  regard  to  their 
own  immediate  interests  as  the  belligerents  may  agree 
upon.  We  have  nothing  material  of  any  kind  to  ask 
for  ourselves,  and  are  quite  aware  that  we  are  in  no 
sense  or  degree  parties  to  the  present  quarrel.  Our 
interest  is  only  in  peace  and  its  future  guarantees. 
Second,  an  universal  association  of  the  nations  to  main 
tain  the  inviolate  security  of  the  highway  of  the  seas 
for  the  common  and  unhindered  use  of  all  the  nations 
of  the  world,  and  to  prevent  any  war  begun  either  con 
trary  to  treaty  covenants  or  without  warning  and  full 
submission  of  the  causes  to  the  opinion  of  the  world, — a 
virtual  guarantee  of  territorial  integrity  and  political 
independence. 

But  I  did  not  come  here,  let  me  repeat,  to  discuss 
a  program.  I  came  only  to  avow  a  creed  and  give 
expression  to  the  confidence  I  feel  that  the  world  is  even 
now  upon  the  eve  of  a  great  consummation,  when  some 
common  force  will  be  brought  into  existence  which  shall 
'safeguard  right  as  the  first  and  most  fundamental  inter 
est  of  all  peoples  and  all  governments,  when  coercion 
shall  be  summoned  not  to  the  service  of  political  ambi- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  195 

tion  or  selfish  hostility,  but  to  the  service  of  a  common 
order,  a  common  justice,  and  a  common  peace.  God 
grant  that  the  dawn  of  that  day  of  frank  dealing  and  of 
settled  peace,  concord,  and  co-operation  may  be  near 
at  hand! 


ADDRESS  ON  MEMORIAL  DAY  AT  ARLING 
TON,  MAY  30,  1916 

Whenever  I  seek  to  interpret  the  spirit  of  an  occa 
sion  like  this,  I  am  led  to  reflect  upon  the  seas  of  mem 
ory.  We  are  here  to-day  to  recall  a  period  of  our  his 
tory,  which  in  one  sense  is  so  remote  that  we  no  longer 
seem  to  keep  the  vital  threads  of  it  in  our  conscious 
ness,  and  yet  is  so  near  that  men  who  played  heroic 
parts  in  it  are  still  living,  are  still  about  us,  are  still 
here  to  receive  the  homage  of  our  respect  and  our 
honor.  They  belong  to  an  age  which  is  past,  to  a  period, 
the  vital  questions  of  which  no  longer  vex  the  nation, 
to  a  period  of  which  it  may  be  said  that  certain  things 
which  had  been  questionable  in  the  affairs  of  the  United 
States  were  once  for  all  settled,  disposed  of,  put  behind 
us,  and  in  the  course  of  time  have  almost  been  forgotten. 

It  was  a  singularly  complete  work  that  was  per 
formed  by  the  processes  of  blood  and  iron  at  the  time 
of  the  Civil  War,  and  it  is  singular  how  the  settlement 
has  ruled  our  spirits  since  it  was  made.  I  see  in  this 
very  audience  men  who  fought  in  the  Confederate  ranks. 
I  see  them  taking  part  in  these  exercises  in  the  same 
spirit  of  sincere  patriotism  that  moves  those  who  fought 
on  the  side  of  the  Union,  and  I  reflect  how  singular 
and  how  handsome  a  thing  it  is  that  wounds  such  as 
then  were  opened  should  be  so  completely  healed,  and 
that  the  spirit  of  America  should  so  prevail  over  the 
spirit  of  division. 

196 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  197 

It  is  the  all-prevailing  and  triumphant  spirit  of 
America,  where,  by  our  Common  action  and  consent, 
Governments  are  set  up  and  pulled  down,  where  affairs 
are  ruled  by  common  counsel,  and  where,  by  the  healing 
processes  of  peace  all  men  are  united  in  a  common 
enterprise  of  Liberty  and  of  peace. 

And  yet,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  the  very  object  for 
which  we  are  met  together  is  to  renew  in  our  hearts 
the  spirit  that  made  these  things  possible.  The  Union 
was  saved  by  the  processes  of  the  Civil  War.  That  was 
a  crisis  which  could  be  handled,  it  seems,  in  no  other 
way,  but  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  peculiarity  of  this 
singular  and  beloved  country  is  that  its  task — its  human 
task — is  apparently  never  finished;  that  it  is  always 
making  and  to  be  made. 

And  there  is  at  present  upon  us  a  crisis  which  seems 
to  threaten  to  be  a  new  crisis  of  division.  We  know 
that  the  war  which  is  to  ensue  will  be  a  war  of 
spirits  and  not  of  arms.  We  know  that  the  spirit 
of  America  is  invincible  and  that  no  man  can  abate 
its  power,  but  we  know  that  that  spirit  must  upon 
occasion  be  asserted,  and  that  this  is  one  of  the 
occasions. 

America  is  made  up  out  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
world.  Look  at  the  rosters  of  the  Civil  War.  You  will 
see  names  there  drawn  from  almost  every  European 
stock.  Not  recently,  but  from  the  first,  America  has 
drawn  her  blood  and  her  impulse  from  all  the  sources 
of  energy  that  spring  at  the  fountains  of  every  race, 
and  because  she  is  thus  compounded  out  of  the  peoples 
of  the  world  her  problem  is  largely  a  problem  of  union 


198          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

all  the  time,  a  problem  of  compounding  out  of  many 
elements  a  single  triumphal  force. 

The  war  in  Europe  has  done  a  very  natural  thing 
in  America.  It  has  stirred  the  memories  of  men  drawn 
from  many  of  the  belligerent  stocks.  It  has  renewed 
in  them  a  national  feeling  which  had  grown  faint  under 
the  soothing  influence  of  peace,  but  which  now  flares  up 
when  it  looks  as  if  nation  had  challenged  nation  to  a  final 
reckoning,  and  they  remember  the  nations  from  which 
they  were  sprung  and  know  that  they  are  in  this  life- 
and-death  grapple.  It  is  not  singular,  my  fellow  citi 
zens,  that  this  should  have  occurred,  and  up  to  a  certain 
point  it  is  not  just  that  we  should  criticize  it.  We  have 
no  criticism  for  men  who  love  the  places  of  their  birth 
and  the  sources  of  their  origin.  We  do  not  wish  men 
to  forget  their  mothers  and  their  fathers,  their  forbears 
running  back  through  long,  laborious  generations  which 
have  taken  part  in  the  building  up  of  the  strength  and 
spirit  of  other  nations.  No  man  quarrels  with  that. 

From  such  springs  of  sentiment  we  all  draw  some 
of  the  handsomest  inspirations  of  our  lives.  But  all 
that  we  do  criticize  is  that  in  some  instances — they  are 
not  very  numerous — but  in  some  instances  men  have 
allowed  this  old  ardor  of  another  nationality  to  over 
throw  their  ardor  for  the  nationality  to  which  they 
have  given  their  new  and  voluntary  allegiance.  And 
so  the  United  States  has  again  to  work  out  by  spiritual 
process  a  new  union,  when  men  shall  not  think  of  what 
divides  them  but  shall  recall  what  unites  them;  when 
men  shall  not  allow  old  loves  to  take  the  place  of  pres 
ent  allegiances ;  when  men  must,  on  the  contrary,  trans- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  199 

late  that  very  ardor  of  love  for  the  country  of  their  birth 
into  the  ardor  of  love  for  the  country  of  their  adoption 
and  the  principles  which  it  represents. 

I  have  no  harshness  in  my  heart  even  for  the  ex 
tremists  in  this  thing  which  I  have  been  trying  in 
moderate  words  to  describe;  but  I  summon  them,  and 
I  summon  them  very  solemnly,  not  to  set  their  pur 
pose  against  the  purpose  of  America.  America  must 
come  first  in  every  purpose  we  entertain,  and  every 
man  must  count  upon  being  cast  out  of  our  confidence, 
cast  out  even  of  our  tolerance,  who  does  not  submit  to 
that  great  ruling  principle. 

But  what  are  the  purposes  of  America  9  Do  you 
not  see  that  there  is  another  significance  in  the  fact 
that  we  are  made  up  out  of  all  the  peoples  of  the  world  ? 
The  significance  of  that  fact  is  that  we  are  not  going 
to  devote  our  nationality  to  the  same  mistaken  aggres 
sive  purposes  that  some  other  nationalities  have  been 
devoted  to;  that  because  we  are  made  up,  and  con 
sciously  made  up,  out  of  all  the  great  family  of  man 
kind,  we  are  champions  of  the  rights  of  mankind. 

We  are  not  only  ready  to  co-operate,  but  we  are 
ready  to  fight  against  any  aggression,  whether  from 
without  or  from  within.  But  we  must  guard  ourselves 
against  the  sort  of  aggression  which  would  be  unworthy 
of  America.  We  are  ready  to  fight  for  our  rights  when 
those  rights  are  coincident  with  the  rights  of  man  and 
humanity.  It  was  to  set  those  rights  up,  to  vindicate 
them,  to  offer  a  home  to  every  man  who  believed  in 
them,  that  America  was  created  and  her  Government  set 
up.  We  have  kept  our  doors  open  because  we  did  not 


200          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

think  we  in  conscience  could  close  them  against  men  who 
wanted  to  join  their  force  with  ours  in  vindicating  the 
claim  of  mankind  to  liberty  and  justice. 

America  does  not  want  any  additional  territory.  She 
does  not  want  any  selfish  advantage  over  any  other 
nation  in  the  world,  but  she  does  wish  every  nation  in 
the  world  to  understand  what  she  stands  for  and  to 
respect  what  she  stands  for;  and  I  cannot  conceive  of 
any  man  of  any  blood  or  origin  failing  to  feel  an  enthusi 
asm  for  the  things  that  America  stands  for,  or  failing 
to  see  that  they  are  indefinitely  elevated  above  any  pur 
pose  of  aggression  or  selfish  advantage. 

I  said  the  other  evening  in  another  place  that  one 
of  the  principles  which  America  held  dear  was  that 
small  and  weak  States  had  as  much  right  to  their  sover 
eignty  and  independence  as  large  and  strong  States. 
She  believes  that  because  strength  and  weakness  have 
nothing  to  do  with  her  principles.  Her  principles  are 
for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  mankind,  and  this  is  the 
haven  which  we  have  offered  to  those  who  believe  that 
sublime  and  sacred  creed  of  humanity. 

And  I  also  said  that  I  believed  the  people  of 
the  United  States  were  ready  to  become  partners  in  any 
alliance  of  the  nations  that  would  guarantee  public  right 
above  selfish  aggression.  Some  of  the  public  prints  have 
reminded  me,  as  if  I  needed  to  be  reminded,  of  what 
General  Washington  warned  us  against.  He  warned  us 
against  entangling  alliances.  I  shall  never  myself  con 
sent  to  an  entangling  alliance,  but  I  would  gladly  assent 
to  a  disentangling  alliance — an  alliance  which  would 
disentangle  the  peoples  of  the  world  from  those  com- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  201 

binations  in  which  they  seek  their  own  separate  and 
private  interests  and  unite  the  people  of  the  world  to 
preserve  the  peace  of  the  world  upon  a  basis  of  com 
mon  right  and  justice.  There  is  liberty  there,  not  limi 
tation.  There  is  freedom,  not  entanglement.  There  is 
the  achievement  of  the  highest  things  for  which  the' 
United  States  has  declared  its  principle. 

We  have  been  engaged  recently,  my  fellow  citizens,  in 
discussing  the  processes  of  preparedness.  I  have  been 
trying  to  explain  to  you  what  we  are  getting  prepared  for, 
and  I  want  to  point  out  to  you  the  only  process  of 
preparation  which  is  possible  for  the  United  States. 

It  is  possible  for  the  United  States  to  get  ready 
only  if  the  men  of  suitable  age  and  strength  will  volun 
teer  to  get  ready. 

I  heard  the  president  of  the  United  States  Chamber 
of  Commerce  report  the  other  evening  on  a  referendum 
of  750  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  question  of  preparedness,  and  he  re 
ported  that  99  per  cent  of  them  had  voted  in  favor  of 
preparedness.  Very  well,  now,  we  are  going  to  apply 
the  acid  test,  to  those  gentlemen,  and  the  acid  test  is  this : 
Will  they  give  the  young  men  in  their  employment  free 
dom  to  volunteer  for  this  thing  ?  I  wish  the  referendum 
had  included  that,  because  that  is  of  the  essence  of  the 
matter. 

It  is  all  very  well  to  say  that  somebody  else  must 
prepare,  but  are  the  business  men  of  this  country  ready 
themselves  to  lend  a  hand  and  sacrifice  an  interest  in 
order  that  we  may  get  ready  ?  We  shall  have  an  answer 
to  that  question  in  the  next  few  months.  A  bill  is  lying 


202          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

upon  my  table  now,  ready  to  be  signed,  which  bristles 
all  over  with  that  interrogation  point,  and  I  want  all 
the  business  men  of  the  country  to  see  that  interroga 
tion  point  staring  them  in  the  face.  I  have  heard  a 
great  many  people  talk  about  universal  training.  Uni 
versal  voluntary  training,  with  all  my  heart,  if  you 
wish  it,  but  America  does  not  wish  anything  but  the 
compulsion  of  the  spirit  of  America. 

I,  for  my  part,  do  not  entertain  any  serious  doubt 
of  the  answer  to  these  questions,  because  I  suppose  there 
is  no  place  in  the  world  where  the  compulsion  of  public 
opinion  is  more  imperative  than  it  is  in  the  United 
States.  You  know  yourself  how  you  behave  when  you 
think  nobody  is  watching.  And  now  all  the  people  of 
the  United  States  are  watching  each  other.  There  never 
was  such  a  blazing  spotlight  upon  the  conduct  and  prin 
ciples  of  every  American  as  each  one  of  us  now  walks 
and  blinks  in. 

And  as  this  spotlight  sweeps  its  relentless  rays  across 
every  square  mile  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
I  know  a  great  many  men,  even  when  they  do  not  want 
to,  are  going  to  stand  up  and  say,  "Here."  Because 
America  is  roused,  roused  to  a  self-consciousness  and 
a  national  self -consciousness  such  as  she  has  not  had  in 
a  generation. 

And  this  spirit  is  going  out  conquering  and  to  con 
quer  until,  it  may  be,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  a  new 
light  is  lifted  up  in  America  which  shall  throw  the  rays 
of  liberty  and  justice  far  abroad  upon  every  sea,  and 
even  upon  the  lands  which  now  wallow  in  darkness  and 
refuse  to  see  the  light. 


ADDRESS  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS  OF 

THE   UNITED   STATES   MILITARY 

ACADEMY,  JUNE  13,  1916 

The  United  States  Military  Academy  was  authorized  by  an  act  of  Congress 
of  March  16,  1802.  West  Point,  New  York,  was  selected  for  its  location,  and, 
with  a  class  of  ten  cadets  present,  it  was  formally  opened  on  July  4,  1802. 
The  Act  of  May  4,  1916,  provided  that  the  Corps  of  Cadets  at  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  shall  hereafter  consist  of  two  for  each  congressional  district, 
two  from  each  Territory,  four  from  the  District  of  Columbia,  two  from  natives 
of  Porto  Rico,  four  from  each  State  at  large,  and  eighty  from  the  United  States 
at  large  twenty  of  whom  shall  be  selected  from  among  the  honor  graduates 
of  educational  institutions  having  officers  of  the  Regular  Army  detailed  as  pro 
fessors  of  military  science  and  tactics  under  existing  law  or  any  law  hereafter 
enacted  for  the  detail  of  officers  of  the  Regular  Army  to  such  institutions,  and 
which  institutions  are  designated  as  "  honor  schools "  upon  the  determination 
of  their  relative  standing  at  the  last  preceding  annual  inspection  regularly 
made  by  the  War  Department.  They  shall  be  appointed  by  the  President  and 
shall,  with  the  exception  of  the  eighty  appointed  from  the  United  States  at 
large,  be  actual  residents  of  the  Congressional  or  Territorial  district,  or  of  the 
District  of  Columbia,  or  of  the  island  of  Porto  Rico,  or  of  the  States,  respec 
tively,  from  which  they  purport  to  be  appointed.  On  mental  and  physical 
examination  they  are  admitted  to  the  Academy,  and  upon  the  successful  com 
pletion  of  four  years  of  study  are  appointed  second  lieutenants  of  the  Regular 
Army.  The  number  allowed  by  law  is  1336  and  the  actual  number  in  attendance 
in  1917  was  898.  To  the  class  graduating  on  June  13,  1916,  President  Wilson 
delivered  the  following  address. 

I  look  upon  this  body  of  men  who  are  graduating 
today  with  a  peculiar  interest.  I  feel  like  congratu 
lating  them  that  they  are  living  in  a  day  not  only  so 
interesting,  because  so  fraught  with  change,  but  also 
because  so  responsible.  Days  of  responsibility  are  the 
only  days  that  count  in  time,  because  they  are  the  only 
days  that  give  test  of  quality.  They  are  the  only  days 
when  manhood  and  purpose  is  tried  out  as  if  by  fire. 
I  need  not  tell  you  young  gentlemen  that  you  are  not 
like  an  ordinary  graduating  class  of  one  of  our  uni 
versities.  The  men  in  those  classes  look  forward  to 
the  life  which  they  are  to  lead  after  graduation  with 


204          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

a  great  many  questions  in  their  mind.  Most  of  them 
do  not  know  exactly  what  their  lives  are  going  to 
develop  into.  Some  of  them  do  not  know  what  occupa 
tions  they  are  going  to  follow.  All  of  them  are  con 
jecturing  what  will  be  the  line  of  duty  and  advancement 
and  the  ultimate  goal  of  success  for  them. 

There  is  no  conjecture  for  you.  You  have  enlisted 
in  something  that  does  not  stop  when  you  leave  the 
Academy,  for  you  then  only  begin  to  realize  it,  which 
then  only  begins  to  be  fulfilled  with  the  full  richness 
of  its  meaning,  and  you  can  look  forward  with  absolute 
certainty  to  the  sort  of  thing  that  you  will  be  obliged 
to  do. 

This  has  always  been  true  of  graduating  classes  at 
West  Point,  but  the  certainty  that  some  of  the  older 
classes  used  to  look  forward  to  was  a  dull  certainty. 
Some  of  the  old  days  in  the  army,  I  fancy,  were  not 
very  interesting  days.  Sometimes  men  like  the  present 
Chief  of  Staff,  for  example,  could  fill  their  lives  with 
the  interest  of  really  knowing  and  understanding  the 
Indians  of  the  Western  plains,  knowing  what  was  going 
on  inside  their  minds  and  being  able  to  be  the  inter 
mediary  between  them  and  those  who  dealt  with  them, 
by  speaking  their  sign  language,  could  enrich  their 
lives,  but  the  ordinary  life  of  the  average  officer  at  a 
Western  post  can  not  have  been  very  exciting,  and  I 
think  with  admiration  of  those  dull  years  through 
which  officers  who  had  not  a  great  deal  to  do  insisted, 
nevertheless,  upon  being  efficient  and  worth  while  and 
keeping  their  men  fit  at  any  rate,  for  the  duty  to  which 
they  were  assigned. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  205 

But  in  your  case  there  are  many  extraordinary 
possibilities,  because,  gentlemen,  no  man  can  certainly 
tell  you  what  the  immediate  future  is  going  to  be  either 
in  the  history  of  this  country  or  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  It  is  not  by  accident  that  the  present  great 
war  came  in  Europe.  Every  element  was  there,  and 
the  contest  had  to  come  sooner  or  later,  and  it  is  not 
going  to  be  by  accident  that  the  results  are  worked 
out,  but  by  purpose — by  the  purpose  of  the  men  who 
are  strong  enough  to  have  guiding  minds  and  in 
domitable  wills  when  the  time  for  decision  and  settle 
ment  comes.  And  the  part  that  the  United  States  is 
to  play  has  this  distinction  in  it,  that  it  is  to  be  in  any 
event  a  disinterested  part.  There  is  nothing  that  the 
United  States  wants  that  it  has  to  get  by  war,  but 
there  are  a  great  many  things  that  the  United  States 
has  to  do.  It  has  to  see  that  its  life  is  not  interfered 
with  by  anybody  else  who  wants  something. 

These  are  days  when  we  are  making  preparation, 
when  the  thing  most  commonly  discussed  around  every 
sort  of  table,  in  every  sort  of  circle,  in  the  shops  and 
in  the  streets,  is  preparedness,  and  undoubtedly,  gentle 
men,  that  is  the  present  imperative  duty  of  America, 
to  be  prepared.  But  we  ought  to  know  what  we  are 
preparing  for.  I  remember  hearing  a  wise  man  say 
once  that  the  old  maxim  that  "  everything  comes  to  I/' 
the  man  who  waits"  is  all  very  well  provided  he  knows 
what  he  is  waiting  for;  and  preparedness  might  be 
a  very  hazardous  thing  if  we  did  not  know  what  we 
wanted  to  do  with  the  force  that  we  mean  to  accumulate 
and  to  get  into  fighting  shape. 


206          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

America,  fortunately,  does  know  what  she  wants 
to  do  with  her  force.  America  came  into  existence  for 
a  particular  reason.  When  you  look  about  upon  these 
beautiful  hills,  and  up  this  stately  stream,  and  then 
let  your  imagination  run  over  the  whole  body  of  this 
great  country  from  which  you  youngsters  are  drawn, 
far  and  wide,  you  remember  that  while  it  had  aborigi 
nal  inhabitants,  while  there  were  people  living  here, 
there  was  no  civilization  which  we  displaced.  It  was 
as  if  in  the  Providence  of  God  a  continent  had  been 
kept  unused  and  waiting  for  a  peaceful  people  who 
loved  liberty  and  the  rights  of  men  more  than  they 
loved  anything  else,  to  come  and  set  up  an  unselfish 
commonwealth.  It  is  a  very  extraordinary  thing.  You 
are  so  familiar  with  American  history,  at  any  rate  in 
its  general  character — I  don't  accuse  you  of  knowing 
the  details  of  it,  for  I  never  found  the  youngster  who 
did, — but  you  are  so  familiar  with  the  general  character 
of  American  history  that  it  does  not  seem  strange  to 
you,  but  it  is  a  very  strange  history.  There  is  none 
other  like  it  in  the  whole  annals  of  mankind — of  men 
gathering  out  of  every  civilized  nation  of  the  world 
on  an  unused  continent  and  building  up  a  polity  exactly 
to  suit  themselves,  not  under  the  domination  of  any 
ruling  dynasty  or  of  the  ambitions  of  any  royal  family ; 
doing  what  they  pleased  with  their  own  life  on  a  free 
space  of  land  which  God  had  made  rich  with  every 
resource  which  was  necessary  for  the  civilization  they 
meant  to  build  up.  There  is  nothing  like  it. 

Now,  what  we  are  preparing  to  do  is  to  see  that 
nobody  mars  that  and  that,  being  safe  itself  against 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  207 

interference  from  the  outside,  all  of  its  force  is  going 
to  be  behind  its  moral  idea,  and  mankind  is  going  to 
know  that  when  America  speaks  she  means  what  she 
says.  I  heard  a  man  say  to  another,  "If  you  wish  me 
to  consider  you  witty,  I  must  really  trouble  you  to 
make  a  joke."  We  have  a  right  to  say  to  the  rest  of 
mankind,  "If  you  don't  want  to  interfere  with  us,  if 
you  are  disinterested,  we  must  really  trouble  you  to 
give  the  evidence  of  that  fact."  We  are  not  in  for  any 
thing  selfish,  and  we  want  the  whole  mighty  power  of 
America  thrown  into  that  scale  and  not  into  any  other. 
You  know  that  the  chief  thing  that  is  holding  many 
people  back  from  enthusiasm  for  what  is  called  pre 
paredness  is  the  fear  of  militarism.  I  want  to  say 
a  word  to  you  young  gentlemen  about  militarism.  You 
are  not  militarists  because  you  are  military.  Militarism 
does  not  consist  in  the  existence  of  an  army,  not  even 
in  the  existence  of  a  very  great  army.  Militarism  is 
a  spirit.  It  is  a  point  of  view.  It  is  a  system.  It 
is  a  purpose.  The  purpose  of  militarism  is  to  use 
armies  for  aggression.  The  spirit  of  militarism  is  the 
opposite  of  the  civilian  spirit,  the  citizen  spirit.  In  a 
country  where  militarism  prevails  the  military  man 
looks  down  upon  the  civilian,  regards  him  as  inferior, 
thinks  of  him  as  intended  for  his,  the  military  man's, 
support  and  use;  and  just  so  long  as  America  is 
America  that  spirit  and  point  of  view  is  impossible 
with  us.  There  is  as  yet  in  this  country,  so  far  as 
I  can  discover,  no  taint  of  the  spirit  of  militarism. 
You  young  gentlemen  are  not  preferred  in  promotion 
because  of  the  families  you  belong  to.  You  are  not 


208          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

drawn  into  the  Academy  because  you  belong  to  certain 
influential  circles.  You  do  not  come  here  with  a  long 
tradition  of  military  pride  back  of  you. 

You  are  picked  out  from  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  to  be  that  part  of  the  force  of  the  United  States 
which  makes  its  polity  safe  against  interference.  You 
are  the  part  of  American  citizens  who  say  to  those 
who  would  interfere,  "You  must  not"  and  "You  shall 
not."  But  you  are  American  citizens,  and  the  idea 
I  want  to  leave  with  you  boys  today  is  this:  No  mat 
ter  what  comes,  always  remember  that  first  of  all  you 
are  citizens  of  the  United  States  before  you  are  officers, 
and  that  you  are  officers  because  you  represent  in  your 
particular  profession  what  the  citizenship  of  the  United 
States  stands  for.  There  is  no  danger  of  militarism 
if  you  are  genuine  Americans,  and  I  for  one  do  not 
doubt  that  you  are.  When  you  begin  to  have  the  mili 
taristic  spirit — not  the  military  spirit,  that  is  all  right — 
then  begin  to  doubt  whether  you  are  Americans  or  not. 

You  know  that  one  thing  in  which  our  forefathers 
took  pride  was  this,  that  the  civil  power  is  superior 
to  the  military  power  in  the  United  States.  Once  and 
again  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  so  admired 
some  great  military  man  as  to  make  him  President  of 
the  United  States,  when  he  became  commander-in-chief 
of  all  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  but  he  was  com 
mander-in-chief  because  he  was  President,  not  because 
he  had  been  trained  to  arms,  and  his  authority  was 
civil,  not  military.  I  can  teach  you  nothing  of  military 
power,  but  I  am  instructed  by  the  Constitution  to  use 
you  for  constitutional  and  patriotic  purposes.  And 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  209 

that  is  the  only  use  you  care  to  be  put  to,  and  that  is 
the  only  use  you  ought  to  care  to  be  put  to,  because, 
after  all,  what  is  the  use  in  being  an  American  if  you 
do  not  know  what  it  is? 

You  have  read  a  great  deal  in  the  books  about  the 
pride  of  the  old  Roman  citizen,  who  always  felt  like 
drawing  himself  to  his  full  height  when  he  said,  "I  am 
a  Roman,"  but  as  compared  with  the  pride  that  must 
have  risen  to  his  heart,  our  pride  has  a  new  distinction, 
not  the  distinction  of  the  mere  imperial  power  of  a 
great  empire,  not  the  distinction  of  being  masters  of 
the  world,  but  the  distinction  of  carrying  certain  lights 
for  the  world  that  the  world  has  never  so  distinctly 
seen  before,  certain  guiding  lights  of  liberty  and  prin 
ciple  and  justice.  We  have  drawn  our  people,  as  you 
know,  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  we  have  been 
somewhat  disturbed  recently,  gentlemen,  because  some 
of  those — though  I  believe  a  very  small  number — whom 
we  have  drawn  into  our  citizenship  have  not  taken 
into  their  hearts  the  spirit  of  America  and  have  loved 
other  countries  more  than  they  loved  the  country  of 
their  adoption;  and  we  have  talked  a  great  deal  about 
Americanism.  It  ought  to  be  a  matter  of  pride  with 
us  to  know  what  Americanism  really  consists  in. 

Americanism  consists  in  utterly  believing  in  the 
principles  of  America  and  putting  them  first  as  above 
anything  that  might  by  chance  come  into  competition 
with  it.  And  I,  for  my  part,  believe  that  the  American 
test  is  a  spiritual  test.  If  a  man  has  to  make  excuses 
for  what  he  had  done  as  an  American,  I  doubt  his 
Americanism.  He  ought  to  know  at  every  step  of  his 


210          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

action  that  the  motive  that  lies  behind  what  he  does 
is  a  motive  which  no  American  need  be  ashamed  of 
for  a  moment.  Now,  we  ought  to  put  this  test  to  every 
man  we  know.  We  ought  to  let  it  be  known  that  nobody 
who  does  not  put  America  first  can  consort  with  us. 

But  we  ought  to  set  them  the  example.  We  ought 
to  set  them  the  example  by  thinking  American  thoughts, 
by  entertaining  American  purposes,  and  those  thoughts 
and  purposes  will  stand  the  test  of  example  anywhere 
in  the  world,  for  they  are  intended  for  the  betterment 
of  mankind. 

So  I  have  come  to  say  these  few  words  to  you  to 
day,  gentlemen,  for  a  double  purpose;  first  of  all  to 
express  my  personal  good  wishes  to  you  in  your  gradua 
tion,  and  my  personal  interest  in  you,  and  second  of 
all  to  remind  you  how  we  must  all  stand  together  in 
one  spirit  as  lovers  and  servants  of  America.  And  that 
means  something  more  than  lovers  and  servants  merely 
of  the  United  States.  You  have  heard  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  gentlemen.  You  know  that  we  are  already 
spiritual  partners  with  both  continents  of  this  hemi 
sphere  and  that  America  means  something  which  is 
bigger  even  than  the  United  States,  and  that  we  stand 
here  with  the  glorious  power  of  this  country  ready  to 
swing  it  out  into  the  field  of  action  whenever  liberty 
and  independence  and  political  integrity  are  threatened 
anywhere  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  And  we  are 
ready — nobody  has  authorized  me  to  say  this,  but  I  am 
sure  of  it — we  are  ready  to  join  with  the  other  nations 
of  the  world  in  seeing  that  the  kind  of  justice  prevails 
everywhere  that  we  believe  in. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  211 

So  that  you  are  graduating  to-day,  gentlemen,  into  a 
new  distinction.  Glory  attaches  to  all  these  men  whose 
names  we  love  to  recount  who  have  made  the  annals  of 
the  American  Army  distinguished.  They  played  the 
part  they  were  called  upon  to  play  with  honor  and  with 
extraordinary  character  and  success.  I  am  congratulat 
ing  you,  not  because  you  will  be  better  than  they,  but 
because  you  will  have  a  wider  world  of  thought  and  con 
ception  to  play  your  part  in.  I  am  an  American,  but  I 
do  not  believe  that  any  of  us  loves  a  blustering  nation 
ality,  a  nationality  with  a  chip  on  its  shoulder,  a 
nationality  with  its  elbows  out  and  its  swagger  on. 

We  love  that  quiet,  self-respecting,  unconquerable 
spirit  which  does  not  strike  until  it  is  necessary  to 
strike,  and  then  strikes  to  conquer.  Never  since  I  was 
a  youngster  have  I  been  afraid  of  the  noisy  man.  I 
have  always  been  afraid  of  the  still  man.  I  have 
always  been  afraid  of  the  quiet  man.  I  had  a  class 
mate  at  college  who  was  most  dangerous  when  he  was 
most  affable.  When  he  was  maddest  he  seemed  to  have 
the  sweetest  temper  in  the  world.  He  would  approach 
you  with  the  most  ingratiating  smile,  and  then  you 
knew  that  every  red  corpuscle  in  his  blood  was  up 
and  shouting.  If  you  work  things  off  in  your  elbows, 
you  do  not  work  them  off  in  your  mind;  you  do  not 
work  them  off  in  your  purposes. 

So  my  conception  of  Ajnerica  is  a  conception  of 
infinite  dignity,  along  with  quiet,  unquestionable  power. 
I  ask  you,  gentlemen,  to  join  with  me  in  that  con 
ception,  and  let  us  all  in  our  several  spheres  be  soldiers 
together  to  realize  it. 


ADDRESS  ON  FLAG  DAY,  WASHINGTON, 
JUNE  14,  1916 

MK.  SECRETARY,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

I  have  not  come  here  this  afternoon  with  the  pur 
pose  of  delivering  to  you  an  elaborate  address.  It  seems 
to  me  that  the  day  is  sufficiently  eloquent  already  with 
the  meaning  which  it  should  convey  to  us.  The  spec 
tacle  of  the  morning  has  been  a  very  moving  spectacle 
indeed — an  almost  unpremeditated  outpouring  of  thou 
sands  of  sober  citizens  to  manifest  their  interest  in  the 
safety  of  the  country  and  the  sacredness  of  the  flag 
which  is  its  emblem. 

I  need  not  remind  you  how  much  sentiment  has  been 
poured  out  in  honor  of  the  flag  of  the  United  States. 
Sometimes  we  have  been  charged  with  being  a  very  sen 
timental  people,  fond  of  expressing  in  general  rhetorical 
phrases  principles  not  sufficiently  defined  in  action,  and 
I  dare  say  there  have  been  times  of  happy  and  careless 
ease  in  this  country,  when  all  that  it  has  been  neces 
sary  to  do  for  the  honor  of  the  flag  was  to  put  our 
sentiments  into  poetic  expressions,  into  the  words  that 
for  the  time  being  satisfied  our  hearts. 

But  this  is  not  a  day  of  sentiment.  Sentiment  is  a 
propulsive  power,  but  it  does  not  propel  in  the  way  that 
is  serviceable  to  the  nation  unless  it  have  a  definite  pur 
pose  before  it.  This  is  not  merely  a  day  of  sentiment. 
This  is  a  day  of  purpose. 

212 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  213 

It  is  an  eloquent  symbol  of  the  unity  of  our  history 
that  upon  this  monument,  which  commemorates  the  man 
who  did  most  to  establish  the  American  Union,  we  should 
have  hoisted  those  stars  that  have  so  multiplied  since 
his  time,  associated  with  those  lines  of  red  and  white 
which  mean  all  that  is  pure  in  our  purpose,  and  all  that 
is  red  in  our  blood  in  the  service  of  a  nation  whose  his 
tory  has  been  full  of  inspiration  because  of  his  example. 

But  Washington  was  one  of  the  least  sentimental 
men  that  America  has  ever  produced.  The  thing  that 
thrills  me  about  Washington  is  that  he  is  impatient  of 
any  sentiment  that  has  not  got  definite  purpose  in  it. 
His  letters  run  along  the  lines  of  action,  not  merely 
along  the  mere  lines  of  sentiment,  and  the  most  inspir 
ing  times  that  this  nation  has  ever  seen  have  been  the 
times  when  sentiment  had  to  be  translated  into  action. 

Apparently  this  nation  is  again  and  again  and  again 
to  be  tested,  and  always  tested  in  the  same  way.  The 
last  supreme  test  this  nation  went  through  was  the  test 
of  the  Civil  War.  You  know  how  deep  that  cut.  You 
know  what  exigent  issues  of  life  were  at  issue  in  that 
struggle.  You  know  how  two  great  sections  of  this 
Union  seemed  to  be  moving  in  opposite  directions,  and 
for  a  long  time  it  was  questionable  whether  that  flag 
represented  any  one  united  purpose  in  America.  And 
you  know  how  deep  that  struggle  cut  into  the  sentiments 
of  this  people,  and  how  there  came  a  whole  generation, 
following  that  great  struggle,  when  men's  hearts  were 
bitter  and  sore,  and  memories  hurt  as  well  as  exalted, 
and  how  it  seemed  as  if  a  rift  had  come  in  the  hearts 
of  the  people  of  America. 


214-          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

And  you  know  how  that  ended.  While  it  seemed  a 
time  of  terror,  it  has  turned  out  a  proof  of  the  validity 
of  our  hope.  Where  are  now  the  divisions  of  sentiment 
which  cut  us  asunder  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War? 
Did  you  not  see  the  Blue  and  the  Gray  mingled  this 
morning  in  the  procession?  Did  not  you  see  the  sons 
of  a  subsequent  generation  walking  together  in  happy 
comradeship?  Was  there  any  contradiction  of  feel 
ing  or  division  of  sentiment  evident  there  for  a 
moment  ? 

Nothing  cuts  so  deep  as  a  civil  war,  and  yet  all  the 
wounds  of  that  war  have  been  healed,  not  only,  but 
the  very  passion  of  that  war  seems  to  have  contributed 
to  the  strength  of  national  feeling  which  now  moves  us 
as  a  single  body  politic. 

And  yet  again  the  test  is  applied,  my  fellow-country 
men.  A  new  sort  of  division  of  feeling  has  sprung  up 
among  us.  You  know  that  we  are  derived  in  our  citizen 
ship  from  every  nation  in  the  world.  It  is  not  singu 
lar  that  sentiment  should  be  disturbed  by  what  is  going 
on  on  the  other  side  of  the  water,  but  while  sentiment 
may  be  disturbed,  loyalty  ought  not  to  be. 

I  want  to  be  scrupulously  just,  my  fellow-citizens, 
in  assessing  the  circumstances  of  this  day,  and  I  am 
sure  that  you  wish  with  me  to  deal  ou^  with  an  even 
hand  the  praise  and  the  blame  of  this  day  of  test. 

I  believe  that  the  vast  majority  of  those  men  whose 
lineage  is  directly  derived  from  the  nations  now  at  war 
are  just  as  loyal  to  the  flag  of  the  United  States  as  any 
native  citizen  of  this  beloved  land,  but  there  are  some 
men  of  that  extraction  who  are  not,  and  they,  not  only 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  215 

in  past  months,  but  at  the  present  time,  are  doing  their 
best  to  undermine  the  influence  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  in  the  interest  of  matters  which  are 
foreign  to  us  and  which  are  not  derived  from  the  ques 
tions  of  our  own  politics. 

There  is  disloyalty  active  in  the  United  States,  and 
it  must  be  absolutely  crushed.  It  proceeds  from  a 
minority,  a  very  small  minority,  but  a  very  active  and 
subtle  minority.  It  works  underground,  but  it  also 
shows  its  ugly  head  where  we  can  see  it;  and  there  are 
those  at  this  moment  who  are  trying  to  levy  a  species 
of  political  blackmail,  saying,  "Do  what  we  wish  in  the 
interest  of  foreign  sentiment  or  we  will  wreak  our  venge 
ance  at  the  polls." 

That  is  the  sort  of  thing  against  which  the  Ameri 
can  nation  will  turn  with  a  might  and  triumph  of  sen 
timent  which  will  teach  these  gentlemen  once  for  all 
that  loyalty  to  this  flag  is  the  first  test  of  tolerance  in 
the  United  States. 

That  is  the  lesson  that  I  have  come  to  remind  you 
of  on  this  day — no  mere  sentiment.  It  runs  into  your 
daily  life  and  conversation.  Are  you  going  yourselves, 
individually  and  collectively,  to  see  to  it  that  no  man 
is  tolerated  who  does  not  do  honor  to  that  flag?  It  is 
not  a  matter  of  force.  It  is  not  a  matter,  that  is  to 
say,  of  physical  force.  It  is  a  matter  of  a  greater  force 
than  that  which  is  physical.  It  is  a  matter  of  spiritual 
force.  It  is  to  be  achieved  as  we  think,  as  we  purpose, 
as  we  believe,  and  when  the  world  finally  learns  that 
America  is  indivisible  then  the  world  will  learn  how 
truly  and  profoundly  great  and  powerful  America  is. 


216          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

I  realize  personally,  my  fellow  citizens,  the  peculiar 
significance  of  the  flag  of  the  United  States  at  this  time, 
because  there  was  a  day  not  many  years  ago  when, 
although  I  thought  I  knew  what  the  flag  stood  for,  it  had 
not  penetrated  my  whole  consciousness  as  it  has  now. 

If  you  could  have  gone  with  me  through  the  space 
of  the  last  two  years,  and  could  have  felt  the  subtle 
impact  of  intrigue  and  sedition,  and  have  realized  with 
me  that  those  to  whom  you  have  intrusted  authority  are 
trustees  not  only  of  the  power,  but  of  the  very  spirit 
and  purpose  of  the  United  States,  you  would  realize 
with  me  the  solemnity  with  which  I  look  upon  the 
sublime  symbol  of  our  unity  and  power. 

I  want  you  to  share  that  consciousness  with  me.  I 
want  you  to  realize  that  in  what  I  am  saying  I  am 
merely  your  spokesman,  merely  trying  to  interpret  your 
thoughts,  merely  trying  to  put  into  inadequate  words 
the  purpose  that  is  in  your  hearts.  I  regard  this  day 
as  a  day  of  rededication  to  all  the  ideals  of  the  United 
States. 

I  took  the  liberty  a  few  weeks  ago  to  ask  our  fellow 
citizens  all  over  the  United  States  to  gather  together  in 
celebration  of  this  day — the  anniversary  of  the  adoption 
of  our  present  flag  as  the  emblem  of  the  nation.  I  had 
no  legal  right  to  declare  it  a  holiday,  I  had  no  legal 
right  to  ask  for  the  cessation  of  business,  but  when  you 
read  the  papers  to-morrow  morning,  I  think  you  will  see 
that  authority  was  not  necessary ;  that  the  people  of  the 
country  were  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  cease  their 
ordinary  business  and  gather  together  in  united  demon 
stration  of  their  feeling  as  a  nation. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  217 

It  was  a  very  happy  thought  that  led  the  committee 
of  gentlemen  who  had  charge  of  the  demonstration  of 
the  forenoon  to  choose  June  14  for  the  parade  which 
most  of  us  have  witnessed.  It  is  a  tiresome  thing,  my 
fellow  citizens,  to  stand  for  hours  and  see  a  parade  go 
by,  but  I  want  to  take  you  into  this  secret:  It  was  not 
half  as  tiresome  as  the  inauguration  parade.  The 
inauguration  parade  is  a  very  interesting  thing,  but  it 
is  painfully  interesting  to  the  man  who  is  being  in 
augurated,  because  there  then  lie  ahead  of  him  the  four 
years  of  responsibility  whose  horoscope  cannot  be  cast 
by  any  man.  But  to-day  was  interesting  because  the 
inauguration  parade  of  the  day  of  my  inauguration  is 
more  than  three  years  gone  by.  I  have  gone  through 
deep  waters  with  you  in  the  meantime. 

This  parade  was  not  a  demonstration  in  honor  of  any 
man.  It  was  an  outpouring  of  people  to  demonstrate  a 
great  national  sentiment.  I  was  not  the  object  of  it; 
I  was  one  citizen  among  millions  whose  heart  beat  in 
unison  with  it.  I  felt  caught  up  and  buoyed  along  by 
the  great  stream  of  human  purpose  which  seemed  to 
flow  there  in  front  of  me  by  the  stand  by  the  White 
House,  and  I  shall  go  away  from  this  meeting,  as  1 
came  away  from  that  parade,  with  all  the  deepest  pur 
poses  of  my  heart  renewed ;  and  as  I  see  the  winds  lov 
ingly  unfold  the  beautiful  lines  of  our  great  flag,  I  shall 
seem  to  see  a  hand  pointing  the  way  of  duty  no  matter 
how  hard,  no  matter  how  long,  which  we  shall  tread 
while  we  vindicate  the  glory  and  honor  of  the  United 
States. 


ADDRESS  ON  INTERNATIONAL  TRADE,  BE 
FORE  THE  SALESMANSHIP  CONGRESS, 
DETROIT,  JULY  10,  1916 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

It  is  with  a  great  deal  of  gratification  that  I  find 
myself  facing  so  interesting  and  important  a  company 
as  this.  You  will  readily  understand  that  I  have  not 
come  here  to  make  an  elaborate  address,  but  I  have 
come  here  to  express  my  interest  in  the  objects  of  this 
great  association,  and  to  congratulate  you  on  the  oppor 
tunities  which  are  immediately  ahead  of  you  in  handling 
the  business  of  this  country. 

These  are  days  of  incalculable  change,  my  fellow 
citizens.  It  is  impossible  for  anybody  to  predict  any 
thing  that  is  certain,  in  detail,  with  regard  to  the  future 
either  of  this  country  or  of  the  world  in  the  large  move 
ments  of  business;  but  one  thing  is  perfectly  clear,  and 
that  is  that  the  United  States  will  play  a  new  part, 
and  that  it  will  be  a  part  of  unprecedented  opportunity 
and  of  greatly  increased  responsibility. 

The  United  States  has  had  a  very  singular  history  in 
respect  of  its  business  relationships  with  the  rest  of  the 
world.  I  have  always  believed,  and  I  think  you  have 
always  believed,  that  there  is  more  business  genius  in 
the  United  States  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world; 
and  yet  America  has  apparently  been  afraid  of  touch 
ing  too  intimately  the  great  processes  of  international 
exchange.  America,  of  all  countries  in  the  world,  has 

218 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  219 

been  timid;  has  not  until  recently,  has  not  until  within 
the  last  two  or  three  years,  provided  itself  with  the 
fundamental  instrumentalities  for  playing  a  large  part 
in  the  trade  of  the  world.  America,  which  ought  to 
have  had  the  broadest  vision  of  any  nation,  has  raised 
up  an  extraordinary  number  of  provincial  thinkers,  men 
who  thought  provincially  about  business,  men  who 
thought  that  the  United  States  was  not  ready  to  take 
her  competitive  part  in  the  struggle  for  the  peaceful 
conquest  of  the  world.  For  anybody  who  reflects  philo 
sophically  upon  the  history  of  this  country,  that  is  the 
most  amazing  fact  about  it. 

But  the  time  for  provincial  thinkers  has  gone  by. 
We  must  play  a  great  part  in  the  world  whether  we 
choose  it  or  not.  Do  you  know  the  significance  of  this 
single  fact,  that  within  the  last  year  or  two  we  have, 
speaking  in  large  terms,  ceased  to  be  a  debtor  nation 
and  become  a  creditor  nation?  We  have  more  of  the 
surplus  gold  of  the  world  than  we  ever  had  before,  and 
our  business  hereafter  is  to  be  to  lend  and  to  help  and 
to  promote  the  great  peaceful  enterprises  of  the  world. 
We  have  got  to  finance  the  world  in  some  important 
degree,  and  those  who  finance  the  world  must  under 
stand  it  and  rule  it  with  their  spirits  and  with  their 
minds.  We  cannot  cabin  and  confine  ourselves  any 
longer,  and  so  I  said  that  I  came  here  to  congratulate 
you  upon  the  great  role  that  lies  ahead  of  you  to  play. 
This  is  a  salesmanship  congress,  and  hereafter  sales 
manship  will  have  to  be  closely  related  in  its  outlook 
and  scope  to  statesmanship,  to  international  statesman 
ship.  It  will  have  to  be  touched  with  an  intimate  com- 


220          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

prehension  of  the  conditions  of  business  and  enterprise 
throughout  the  round  globe,  because  America  will  have 
to  place  her  goods  by  running  her  intelligence  ahead  of 
her  goods.  No  amount  of  mere  push,  no  amount  of 
mere  hustling,  or,  to  speak  in  the  western  language,  no 
amount  of  mere  rustling,  no  amount  of  mere  active 
enterprise,  will  suffice. 

There  have  been  two  ways  of  doing  business  in  the 
world  outside  of  the  lands  in  which  the  great  manufac 
tures  have  been  made.  One  has  been  to  try  to  force 
the  tastes  of  the  manufacturing  country  on  the  country 
in  which  the  markets  were  being  sought,  and  the  other 
way  has  been  to  study  the  tastes  and  needs  of  the  coun 
tries  where  the  markets  were  being  sought  and  suit  your 
goods  to  those  tastes  and  needs;  and  the  latter  method 
has  beaten  the  former  method.  If  you  are  going  to  sell 
carpets,  for  example,  in  India,  you  have  got  to  have  as 
good  taste  as  the  Indians  in  the  patterns  of  the  carpets, 
and  that  is  going  some.  If  you  are  going  to  sell  things 
in  tropical  countries,  they  must,  rather  obviously,  be 
different  from  those  which  you  sell  in  cold  and  arctic 
countries.  You  cannot  assume  that  the  rest  of  the 
world  is  going  to  wear  or  use  or  manufacture  what 
you  wear  and  use  and  manufacture.  Your  raw  mate 
rials  must  be  the  raw  materials  that  they  need,  not  the 
raw  materials  that  you  need.  Your  manufactured  goods 
must  be  the  manufactured  goods  which  they  desire,  not 
those  which  other  markets  have  desired.  So  your  busi 
ness  will  keep  pace  with  your  knowledge,  not  of  your 
self  and  of  your  manufacturing  processes,  but  of  them 
and  of  their  commercial  needs.  That  is  statesmanship, 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  221 

because  that  is  relating  your  international  activities  to 
the  conditions  which  exist  in  other  countries. 

If  we  can  once  get  what  some  gentlemen  are  so  loath 
to  give  us,  a  merchant  marine!  The  trouble  with  some 
men  is  that  they  are  slow  in  their  minds.  They  do  not 
see ;  they  do  not  know  the  need,  and  they  will  not  allow 
you  to  point  it  out  to  them.  If  we  can  once  get  in  a 
position  to  deliver  our  own  goods,  then  the  goods  that 
we  have  to  deliver  will  be  adjusted  to  the  desires  of 
those  to  whom  we  deliver  them,  and  all  the  world  will 
welcome  America  in  the  great  field  of  commerce  and 
manufacture. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  cant  talked,  my  fellow  citi 
zens,  about  service.  I  wish  the  word  had  not  been  sur 
rounded  with  so  much  sickly  sentimentality,  because  it 
is  a  good,  robust,  red-blooded  word,  and  it  is  the  key  to 
everything  that  concerns  the  peace  and  prosperity  of 
the  world.  You  cannot  force  yourself  upon  anybody 
who  is  not  obliged  to  take  you.  The  only  way  in  which 
you  can  be  sure  of  being  accepted  is  by  being  sure  that 
you  have  got  something  to  offer  that  is  worth  taking, 
and  the  only  way  you  can  be  sure  of  that  is  by  being 
sure  that  you  wish  to  adapt  it  to  the  use  and  the  service 
of  the  people  to  whom  you  are  trying  to  sell. 

I  was  trying  to  expound  in  another  place  the  other 
day  the  long  way  and  the  short  way  to  get  together. 
The  long  way  is  to  fight.  I  hear  some  gentlemen  say 
that  they  want  to  help  Mexico,  and  the  way  they  pro 
pose  to  help  her  is  to  overwhelm  her  with  force.  That 
is  the  long  way  to  help  Mexico  as  well  as  the  wrong 
way.  After  the  fighting  you  have  a  nation  full  of  justi- 


222          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

fied  suspicion  and  animated  by  well-founded  hostility 
and  hatred,  and  then  will  you  help  them?  Then  will 
you  establish  cordial  business  relationships  with  them? 
Then  will  you  go  in  as  neighbors  and  enjoy  their  confi 
dence  ?  On  the  contrary,  you  will  have  shut  every  door 
as  if  it  were  of  steel  against  you.  What  makes  Mexico 
suspicious  of  us  is  that  she  does  not  believe  as  yet  that 
we  want  to  serve  her.  She  believes  that  we  want  to 
possess  her,  and  she  has  justification  for  the  belief  in  the 
way  in  which  some  of  our  fellow  citizens  have  tried  to 
exploit  her  privileges  and  possessions.  For  my  part,  I 
will  not  serve  the  ambitions  of  these  gentlemen,  but  I 
will  try  to  serve  all  America,  so  far  as  intercourse  with 
Mexico  is  concerned,  by  trying  to  serve  Mexico  herself. 
There  are  some  things  that  are  not  debatable.  Of  course, 
we  have  to  defend  our  border.  That  goes  without  say 
ing.  Of  course,  we  must  make  good  our  own  sovereignty, 
but  we  must  respect  the  sovereignty  of  Mexico.  I  am 
one  of  those — I  have  sometimes  suspected  that  there  were 
not  many  of  them — who  believe,  absolutely  believe,  the 
Virginia  Bill  of  Eights,  which  was  the  model  of  the  old 
bill  of  rights,  which  says  that  a  people  has  a  right  to 
do  anything  they  please  with  their  own  country  and 
their  own  government.  I  am  old-fashioned  enough  to 
believe  that,  and  I  am  going  to  stand  by  that  belief. 
(That  is  for  the  benefit  of  those  gentlemen  who  wish 
to  butt  in.) 

Now,  I  use  that  as  an  illustration,  my  fellow  citizens. 
What  do  we  all  most  desire  when  the  present  tragical 
confusion  of  the  world's  affairs  is  over?  We  desire 
permanent  peace,  do  we  not?  Permanent  peace  can 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  223 

grow  in  only  one  soil.  That  is  the  soil  of  actual  good 
will,  and  good  will  cannot  exist  without  mutual  com 
prehension.  Charles  Lamb,  the  English  writer,  made 
a  very  delightful  remark  that  I  have  long  treasured  in 
my  memory.  He  stuttered  a  little  bit,  and  he  said  of 
someone  who  was  not  present,  "I  h-h-hate  that  m-man;" 
and  someone  said,  "Why,  Charles,  I  didn't  know  you 
knew  him."  "Oh,"  he  said,  "I-I-I  don't;  I-I  can't 
h-hate  a  m-man  I  know."  That  is  a  profound  human 
remark.  You  cannot  hate  a  man  you  know.  I  know 
some  rascals  whom  I  have  tried  to  hate.  I  have  tried 
to  head  them  off:  as  rascals,  but  I  have  been  unable  to 
hate  them.  I  have  liked  them.  And  so,  not  to  compare 
like  with  unlike,  in  the  relationship  of  nations  with  each 
other,  many  of  our  antagonisms  are  based  upon  mis 
understandings,  and  as  long  as  you  do  not  understand 
a  country  you  cannot  trade  with  it.  As  long  as  you 
cannot  take  its  point  of  view  you  cannot  commend  your 
goods  to  its  purchase.  As  long  as  you  go  to  it  with  a 
supercilious  air,  for  example,  and  patronize  it,  as  we 
have  tried  to  do  in  some  less  developed  countries,  and 
tell  them  that  this  is  what  they  ought  to  want  whether 
they  want  it  or  not,  you  cannot  do  business  with  them. 
You  have  got  to  approach  them  just  as  you  really  ought 
to  approach  all  matters  of  human  relationship. 

Those  people  who  give  their  money  to  philanthropy, 
for  example,  but  cannot  for  the  life  of  them  see  from  the 
point  of  view  of  those  for  whose  benefit  they  are  giving 
the  money  are  not  philanthropists.  They  endow  and 
promote  philanthropy,  but  you  cannot  be  a  philan 
thropist  unless  you  love  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 


224          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  great  barrier  in  this  world,  I  have  sometimes 
thought,  is  not  the  barrier  of  principle,  but  the  barrier 
of  taste.  Certain  classes  of  society  find  certain  other 
classes  of  society  distasteful  to  them.  They  do  not  like 
the  way  they  dress.  They  do  not  like  the  infrequency 
with  which  they  bathe.  They  do  not  like  to  consort 
with  them  under  the  conditions  under  which  they  live, 
and,  therefore,  they  stand  at  a  distance  from  them,  and 
it  is  impossible  for  them  to  serve  them.  They  do  not 
understand  them  and  do  not  feel  that  common  pulse  of 
humanity  and  that  common  school  of  experience  which 
is  the  only  thing  that  binds  us  together  and  educates  us 
in  the  same  fashion. 

This,  then,  my  friends,  is  the  simple  message  that  I 
bring  you.  Lift  your  eyes  to  the  horizons  of  business; 
do  not  look  too  close  at  the  little  processes  with  which 
you  are  concerned,  but  let  your  thoughts  and  your 
imaginations  run  abroad  throughout  the  whole  world, 
and  with  the  inspiration  of  the  thought  that  you  are 
Americans  and  are  meant  to  carry  liberty  and  justice 
and  the  principles  of  humanity  wherever  you  go,  go 
out  and  sell  goods  that  will  make  the  world  more  com 
fortable  and  more  happy,  and  convert  them  to  the  prin 
ciples  of  America. 


PREPAREDNESS  AND  PEACE 
ADDRESS  AT  TOLEDO,  JULY  10,   1916 

MY  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

This  is  an  entire  surprise  party  to  me.  I  did  not 
know  I  was  going  to  have  the  pleasure  of  stopping  long 
enough  to  address  any  number  of  you,  but  I  am  very 
glad  indeed  to  give  you  my  very  cordial  greetings  and 
to  express  my  very  great  interest  in  this  interesting  city. 

General  Sherwood  said  that  there  were  many  things 
we  agreed  about;  there  is  one  thing  we  disagree  about. 
General  Sherwood  has  been  opposing  preparedness,  and 
I  have  been  advocating  it,  and  I  am  very  sorry  to  have 
found  him  on  the  other  side.  Because,  I  think,  you  will 
bear  me  witness,  fellow  citizens,  that  in  advocating  pre 
paredness  I  have  not  been  advocating  hostility.  You 
will  bear  me  witness  that  I  have  been  a  persistent  friend 
of  peace  and  that  nothing  but  unmistakable  necessity 
will  drive  me  from  that  position.  I  think  it  is  a  matter 
of  sincere  congratulation  to  us  that  our  neighbor  Re 
public  to  the  south  shows  evidences  of  at  last  believing 
in  our  friendly  intentions;  that  while  we  must  protect 
our  border  and  see  to  it  that  our  sovereignty  is  not 
impugned,  we  are  ready  to  respect  their  sovereignty 
also,  and  to  be  their  friends,  and  not  their  enemies. 

The  real  uses  of  intelligence,  my  fellow  citizens,  are 
the  uses  of  peace.  Any  body  of  men  can  get  up  a  row, 
but  only  an  intelligent  body  of  men  can  get  together 
and  co-operate.  Peace  is  not  only  a  test  of  a  nation's 
patience;  it  is  also  a  test  of  whether  the  nation  knows 

225 


226          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

how  to  conduct  its  relations  or  not.  It  takes  time  to  do 
intelligent  things,  and  it  does  not  take  any  time  to  do 
unintelligent  things.  I  can  lose  my  temper  in  a  minute, 
but  it  takes  me  a  long  time  to  keep  it,  and  I  think  that 
if  you  were  to  subject  my  Scotch-Irish  blood  to  the 
proper  kind  of  analysis,  you  would  find  that  it  was 
fighting  blood,  and  that  it  is  pretty  hard  for  a  man 
born  that  way  to  keep  quiet  and  do  things  in  the  way 
in  which  his  intelligence  tells  him  he  ought  to  do  them. 
I  know  just  as  well  as  that  I  am  standing  here  that  I 
represent  and  am  the  servant  of  a  Nation  that  loves 
peace,  and  that  loves  it  upon  the  proper  basis;  loves  it 
not  because  it  is  afraid  of  anybody ;  loves  it  not  because 
it  does  not  understand  and  mean  to  maintain  its  rights, 
but  because  it  knows  that  humanity  is  something  in 
which  we  are  all  linked  together,  and  that  it  behooves 
the  United  States,  just  as  long  as  it  is  possible,  to  hold 
off  from  becoming  involved  in  a  strife  which  makes 
it  all  the  more  necessary  that  some  part  of  the  world 
should  keep  cool  while  all  the  rest  of  it  is  hot.  Here  in 
America,  for  the  time  being,  are  the  spaces,  the  cool 
spaces,  of  thoughtfulness,  and  so  long  as  we  are  allowed 
to  do  so,  we  will  serve  and  not  contend  with  the  rest 
of  our  fellow  men.  We  are  the  more  inclined  to  do 
this  because  the  very  principles  upon  which  our  Govern 
ment  is  based  are  principles  of  common  counsel  and 
not  of  contest. 

So,  my  fellow  citizens,  I  congratulate  myself  upon 
this  opportunity,  brief  as  it  is,  to  give  you  my  greetings 
and  to  convey  to  you  my  congratulations  that  the  signs 
that  surround  us  are  all  signs  of  peace. 


ADDRESS    ON    ACCEPTING    RENOMINATION 
FOR  THE  PRESIDENCY,  SEPTEMBER  2,  1916  x 

In  foreign  affairs  we  have  been  guided  by  prin 
ciples  clearly  conceived  and  consistently  lived  up  to. 
Perhaps  they  have  not  been  fully  comprehended  because 
they  have  hitherto  governed  international  affairs  only 
in  theory,  not  in  practice.  They  are  simple,  obvious, 
easily  stated,  and  fundamental  to  American  ideals. 

We  have  been  neutral  not  only  because  it  was  the 
fixed  and  traditional  policy  of  the  United  States  to 
stand  aloof  from  the  politics  of  Europe  and  because 
we  had  had  no  part  either  of  action  or  of  policy  in 
the  influences  which  brought  on  the  present  war,  but 
also  because  it  was  manifestly  our  duty  to  prevent,  if 
it  were  possible,  the  indefinite  extension  of  the  fires  of 
hate  and  desolation  kindled  by  that  terrible  conflict  and 
seek  to  serve  mankind  by  reserving  our  strength  and 
our  resources  for  the  anxious  and  difficult  days  of 
restoration  and  healing  which  must  follow,  when  peace 
will  have  to  build  its  house  anew. 

The  rights  of  our  own  citizens  of  course  became 
involved :  that  was  inevitable.  Where  they  did  this  was 
our  guiding  principle:  that  property  rights  can  be  vin 
dicated  by  claims  for  damages  when  the  war  is  over, 
and  no  modern  nation  can  decline  to  arbitrate  such 
claims;  but  the  fundamental  rights  of  humanity  can- 

1  Only  that  part  of  the  speech  is  given  which  concerns  international  re 
lations. 

227 


228          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

not  be.  The  loss  of  life  is  irreparable.  Neither  can 
direct  violations  of  a  nation's  sovereignty  await  vindi 
cation  in  suits  for  damages.  The  nation  that  violates 
these  essential  rights  must  expect  to  be  checked  and 
called  to  account  by  direct  challenge  and  resistance. 
It  at  once  makes  the  quarrel  in  part  our  own.  These 
are  plain  principles  and  we  have  never  lost  sight  of 
them  or  departed  from  them,  whatever  the  stress  or  the 
perplexity  of  circumstance  or  the  provocation  to  hasty 
resentment.  The  record  is  clear  and  consistent  through 
out  and  stands  distinct  and  definite  for  anyone  to  judge 
who  wishes  to  know  the  truth  about  it. 

The  seas  were  not  broad  enough  to  keep  the  infec 
tion  of  the  conflict  out  of  our  own  politics.  The  pas 
sions  and  intrigues  of  certain  active  groups  and  com 
binations  of  men  amongst  us  who  were  born  under  for 
eign  flags  injected  the  poison  of  disloyalty  into  our 
own  most  critical  affairs,  laid  violent  hands  upon  many 
of  our  industries,  and  subjected  us  to  the  shame  of 
divisions  of  sentiment  and  purpose  in  which  America 
was  contemned  and  forgotten.  It  is  part  of  the  busi 
ness  of  this  year  of  reckoning  and  settlement  to  speak 
plainly  and  act  with  unmistakable  purpose  in  rebuke 
of  these  things,  in  order  that  they  may  be  forever  here 
after  impossible.  I  am  the  candidate  of  a  party,  but  I 
am  above  all  things  else  an  American  citizen.  I  neither 
seek  the  favor  nor  fear  the  displeasure  of  that  small 
alien  element  amongst  us  which  puts  loyalty  to  any 
foreign  power  before  loyalty  to  the  United  States. 

While  Europe  was  at  war  our  own  continent,  one  of 
our  own  neighbors,  was  shaken  by  revolution.  In  that 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  229 

matter,  too,  principle  was  plain  and  it  was  imperative 
that  we  should  live  up  to  it  if  we  were  to  deserve  the 
trust  of  any  real  partisan  of  the  right  as  free  men  see  it. 
We  have  professed  to  believe,  and  we  do  believe,  that 
the  people  of  small  and  weak  states  have  the  right  to 
expect  to  be  dealt  with  exactly  as  the  people  of  big  and 
powerful  states  would  be.  We  have  acted  upon  that 
principle  in  dealing  with  the  people  of  Mexico. 

*  Our  recent  pursuit  of  bandits  into  Mexican  terri 
tory  was  no  violation  of  that  principle.  We  ventured  to 
enter  Mexican  territory  only  because  there  were  no 
military  forces  in  Mexico  that  could  protect  our  border 
from  hostile  attack  and  our  own  people  from  violence, 
and  we  have  committed  there  no  single  act  of  hostility 
or  interference  even  with  the  sovereign  authority  of  the 
Republic  of  Mexico  herself.  It  was  a  plain  case  of  the 
violation  of  our  own  sovereignty  which  could  not  wait 
to  be  vindicated  by  damages  and  for  which  there  was  no 
other  remedy.  The  authorities  of  Mexico  were  power 
less  to  prevent  it. 

Many  serious  wrongs  against  the  property,  many 
irreparable  wrongs  against  the  persons,  of  Americans 
have  been  committed  within  the  territory  of  Mexico 
herself  during  this  confused  revolution,  wrongs  which 
could  not  be  effectually  checked  so  long  as  there  was 
no  constituted  power  in  Mexico  which  was  in  a  position 
to  check  them.  We  could  not  act  directly  in  that  matter 
ourselves  without  denying  Mexicans  the  right  to  any 
revolution  at  all  which  disturbed  us  and  making  the 
emancipation  of  her  own  people  await  our  own  interest 
and  convenience. 


230          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

For  it  is  their  emancipation  that  they  are  seeking, — 
blindly,  it  may  be,  and  as  yet  ineffectually,  but  with 
profound  and  passionate  purpose  and  within  their  un 
questionable  right,  apply  what  true  American  principle 
you  will, — any  principle  that  an  American  would  pub 
licly  avow.  The  people  of  Mexico  have  not  been  suffered 
to  own  their  own  country  or  direct  their  own  institu 
tions.  Outsiders,  men  out  of  other  nations  and  with 
interests  too  often  alien  to  their  own,  have  dictated  what 
their  privileges  and  opportunities  should  be  and  who 
should  control  their  land,  their  lives,  and  their  re 
sources, — some  of  them  Americans,  pressing  for  things 
they  could  never  have  got  in  their  own  country.  The 
Mexican  people  are  entitled  to  attempt  their  liberty  from 
such  influences;  and  so  long  as  I  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  action  of  our  great  Government  I  shall  do 
everything  in  my  power  to  prevent  anyone  standing  in 
their  way.  I  know  that  this  is  hard  for  some  persons 
to  understand;  but  it  is  not  hard  for  the  plain  people 
of  the  United  States  to  understand.  It  is  hard  doctrine 
only  for  those  who  wish  to  get  something  for  them 
selves  out  of  Mexico.  There  are  men,  and  noble  women, 
too,  not  a  few,  of  our  own  people,  thank  God!  whose 
fortunes  are  invested  in  great  properties  in  Mexico 
who  yet  see  the  case  with  true  vision  and  assess  its 
issues  with  true  American  feeling.  The  rest  can 
be  left  for  the  present  out  of  the  reckoning  until 
this  enslaved  people  has  had  its  day  of  struggle 
towards  the  light.  I  have  heard  no  one  who  was 
free  from  such  influences  propose  interference  by 
the  United  States  with  the  internal  affairs  of  Mexico. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  231 

Certainly    no    friend    of    the    Mexican    people    has 
proposed  it. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  capable  of  great 
sympathies  and  a  noble  pity  in  dealing  with  problems 
of  this  kind.  As  their  spokesman  and  representative, 
I  have  tried  to  act  in  the  spirit  they  would  wish  me  to 
show.  The  people  of  Mexico  are  striving  for  the  rights 
that  are  fundamental  to  life  and  happiness, — fifteen 
million  oppressed  men,  overburdened  women,  and  piti 
ful  children  in  virtual  bondage  in  their  own  home  of 
fertile  lands  and  inexhaustible  treasure!  Some  of  the 
leaders  of  the  revolution  may  often  have  been  mistaken 
and  violent  and  selfish,  but  the  revolution  itself  was 
inevitable  and  is  right.  The  unspeakable  Huerta  be 
trayed  the  very  comrades  he  served,  traitorously  over 
threw  the  government  of  which  he  was  a  trusted  part, 
impudently  spoke  for  the  very  forces  that  had  driven 
his  people  to  the  rebellion  with  which  he  had  pretended 
to  sympathize.  The  men  who  overcame  him  and  drove 
him  out  represent  at  least  the  fierce  passion  of  recon 
struction  which  lies  at  the  very  heart  of  liberty;  and 
so  long  as  they  represent,  however  imperfectly,  such  a 
struggle  for  deliverance,  I  am  ready  to  serve  their  ends 
when  I  can.  So  long  as  the  power  of  recognition  rests"^ 
with  me  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  refuse 
to  extend  the  hand  of  welcome  to  anyone  who  obtains  / 
power  in  a  sister  republic  by  treachery  and  violence./ 
No  permanency  can  be  given  the  affairs  of  any  republic 
by  a  title  based  upon  intrigue  and  assassination.  I  de 
clared  that  to  be  the  policy  of  this  Administration 
within  three  weeks  after  I  assumed  the  presidency.  I 


232          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

here  again  vow  it.  I  am  more  interested  in  the  for 
tunes  of  oppressed  men  and  pitiful  women  and  children 
than  in  any  property  rights  whatever.  Mistakes  I  have 
no  doubt  made  in  this  perplexing  business,  but  not  in 
purpose  or  object. 

More  is  involved  than  the  immediate  destinies  of 
Mexico  and  the  relations  of  the  United  States  with  a 
distressed  and  distracted  people.  All  America  looks  on. 
Test  is  now  being  made  of  us  whether  we  be  sincere 
lovers  of  popular  liberty  or  not  and  are  indeed  to  be 
trusted  to  respect  national  sovereignty  among  our 
weaker  neighbors.  We  have  undertaken  these  many 
years  to  play  big  brother  to  the  republics  of  this  hemi 
sphere.  This  is  the  day  of  our  test  whether  we  mean, 
or  have  ever  meant,  to  play  that  part  for  our  own 
benefit  wholly  or  also  for  theirs.  Upon  the  outcome  of 
that  test  (its  outcome  in  their  minds,  not  in  ours) 
depends  every  relationship  of  the  United  States  with 
Latin  America,  whether  in  politics  or  in  commerce  and 
enterprise.  These  are  great  issues  and  lie  at  the  heart 
of  the  gravest  tasks  of  the  future,  tasks  both  economic 
and  political  and  very  intimately  inwrought  with  many 
of  the  most  vital  of  the  new  issues  of  the  politics  of  the 
world.  The  republics  of  America  have  in  the  last 
three  years  been  drawing  together  in  a  new  spirit 
of  accommodation,  mutual  understanding,  and  cor 
dial  co-operation.  Much  of  the  politics  of  the 
world  in  the  years  to  come  will  depend  upon  their 
relationships  with  one  another.  It  is  a  barren  and 
provincial  statesmanship  that  loses  sight  of  such 
things ! 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  233 

The  future,  the  immediate  future,  will  bring  us 
squarely  face  to  face  with  many  great  and  exacting 
problems  which  will  search  us  through  and  through 
whether  we  be  able  and  ready  to  play  the  part  in  the 
world  that  we  mean  to  play.  It  will  not  bring  us  into 
their  presence  slowly,  gently,  with  ceremonious  intro 
duction,  but  suddenly  and  at  once,  the  moment  the  war 
in  Europe  is  over.  They  will  be  new  problems,  most 
of  them;  many  will  be  old  problems  in  a  new  setting 
and  with  new  elements  which  we  have  never  dealt  with 
or  reckoned  the  force  and  meaning  of  before.  They  will 
require  for  their  solution  new  thinking,  fresh  courage 
and  resourcefulness,  and  in  some  matters  radical  recon 
siderations  of  policy.  We  must  be  ready  to  mobilize 
our  resources  alike  of  brains  and  of  materials. 

It  is  not  a  future  to  be  afraid  of.  It  is,  rather,  a 
future  to  stimulate  and  excite  us  to  the  display  of  the 
best  powers  that  are  in  us.  "We  may  enter  it  with  con 
fidence  when  we  are  sure  that  we  understand  it, — and 
we  have  provided  ourselves  already  with  the  means  of 
understanding  it. 

Look  first  at  what  it  will  be  necessary  that  the  nations 
of  the  world  should  do  to  make  the  days  to  come  toler 
able  and  fit  to  live  and  work  in;  and  then  look  at  our 
part  in  what  is  to  follow  and  our  own  duty  of  prepara 
tion.  For  we  must  be  prepared  both  in  resources  and 
in  policy. 

There  must  be  a  just  and  settled  peace,  and  we  here 
in  America  must  contribute  the  full  force  of  our  en 
thusiasm  and  of  our  authority  as  a  nation  to  the  organi 
zation  of  that  peace  upon  world-wide  foundations  that 


234          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

cannot  easily  be  shaken.  No  nation  should  be  forced 
to  take  sides  in  any  quarrel  in  which  its  own  honor  and 
integrity  and  the  fortunes  of  its  own  people  are  not 
involved;  but  no  nation  can  any  longer  remain  neutral 
as  against  any  willful  disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the 
world.  The  effects  of  war  can  no  longer  be  confined  to 
the  areas  of  battle.  No  nation  stands  wholly  apart  in 
interest  when  the  life  and  interests  of  all  nations  are 
thrown  into  confusion  and  peril.  If  hopeful  and  gen 
erous  enterprise  is  to  be  renewed,  if  the  healing  and 
helpful  arts  of  life  are  indeed  to  be  revived  when  peace 
comes  again,  a  new  atmosphere  of  justice  and  friendship 
must  be  generated  by  means  the  world  has  never  tried 
before.  The  nations  of  the  world  must  unite  in  joint 
guarantees  that  whatever  is  done  to  disturb  the  whole 
world's  life  must  first  be  tested  in  the  court  of  the 
whole  world's  opinion  before  it  is  attempted. 

These  are  the  new  foundations  the  world  must  build 
for  itself,  and  we  must  play  our  part  in  the  reconstruc 
tion,  generously  and  without  too  much  thought  of  our 
separate  interests.  We  must  make  ourselves  ready  to 
play  it  intelligently,  vigorously  and  well. 

One  of  the  contributions  we  must  make  to  the  world's 
peace  is  this:  We  must  see  to  it  that  the  people  in  our 
insular  possessions  are  treated  in  their  own  lands  as 
we  would  treat  them  here,  and  make  the  rule  of  the 
United  States  mean  the  same  thing  everywhere, — the 
same  justice,  the  same  consideration  for  the  essential 
rights  of  men.  .  .  -.. 


PEACE  NOTES  TO  THE  BELLIGERENT  GOV 
ERNMENTS,  DATED  DECEMBER  18,  1916 

President  Wilson's  preoccupation  from  the  outbreak  of  the  European  War 
on  August  1,  1814,  to  April  6,  1917,  was  two-fold;  first,  to  bring  this  war  to  a 
conclusion_in_the^intereat  of  our  common  humanity;  second,  to  maintain  peace 
ful  relations  between  the  United  States,  on  the  one  hand,  ani  the  belligerents, 
on  the  other.  In  pursuance  of  these  purposes,  he  addressed  the  following  mes 
sage  to  the  nations  at  war,  under  date  of  August  5,  1914:  "As  official  head  of 
one  of  the  powers  signatory  to  The  Hague  Convention,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  privilege 
and  my  duty,  under  Article  3  of  that  Convention,  to  say  to  you  in  a  spirit  of 
most  earnest  friendship  that  I  should  welcome  the  opportunity  to  act  in  the 
interest  of  European  peace,  either  now  or  at  any  other  time  that  might  be  thought 
more  suitable,  as  an  occasion  to  serve  you  and  all  concerned  in  a  way  that  would 
afford  me  lasting  cause  for  gratitude  and  happiness." 

These  overtures  were  not  accepted  and  apparently  no  encouragement  offered 
for  their  future  presentation.  President  Wilson's  action  in  this  matter,  however, 
was  then  and  later,  in  his  more  formal  offer,  in  strict  accordance  with  Article  3 
of  The  Hague  Convention  for  the  Pacific  Settlement  of  International  Disputes, 
to  which  all  the  belligerent  and  neutral  powers  are  contracting  parties.  This 
article  is  so  important  that  the  material  portion  of  it  is  quoted :  "  Powers, 
strangers  to  the  dispute,  have  the  right  to  offer  good  offices  or  mediation,  even 
during  the  course  of  hostilities. 

"  The  exercise  of  this  right  can  never  be  regarded  by  one  or  the  other  of  the 
parties  in  conflict  as  an  unfriendly  act." 

On  December  12,  1916,  the  Imperial  German  Government  addressed  a  note  to 
all  the  neutral  powers  and  to  the  Vatican,  proposing  "  to  enter  forthwith  into 
peace  negotiations"  with  the  Allied  Powers,  and  asking  the  neutral  powers  to 
bring  this  communication  to  the  notice  of  the  belligerent  governments.  Terms 
were  not  stated,  but  were  apparently  reserved,  to  be  laid  before  a  conference  of 
the  belligerents  when  it  should  meet.  A  separate  statement  at  the  same  time  was 
made  by  the  Government  of  Austria-Hungary,  although  Germany  acted  for  its 
allies,  Austria-Hungary,  Bulgaria,  and  Turkey.  On  December  18th  President 
Wilson  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to  transmit  to  the  Imperial  German  Gov 
ernment  and  its  allies  and  to  all  neutral  governments,  for  their  information,  a 
request  that  the  belligerents  thus  addressed  should  make  more  definite  proposals. 
On  the  same  day  a  communication  was  addressed  to  the  Allied  Powers  and  to  all 
neutral  governments,  for  their  information,  requesting  a  specific  statement  of 
the  terms  upon  which  they  would  agree  to  consider  the  conclusion  of  peace,  in 
order  that,  by  this  exchange  of  views,  a  basis  might  be  found  for  negotiotions. 
The  belligerent  governments  answered  the  request,  the  Allies  stating  specific 

235 


236          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

terms,  whereas  Germany  and  its  allies,  while  commending  the  "noble  initiative 
of  the  President,"  refused  to  state  terms  to  the  President,  while  declaring  them 
selves  ready  to  enter  into  direct  negotiations  with  the  belligerents.  Thus: 

"A  direct  exchange  of  views  appears  to  the  Imperial  Government  as  the 
most  suitable  way  of  arriving  at  the  desired  result.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  also  the  view  of  the  Imperial  Government  that  the  great  work  for 
the  prevention  of  future  wars  can  first  be  taken  up  only  after  the  ending  of  the 
present  conflict  of  exhaustion." 


THE  SECRETARY  or  STATE  TO  AMBASSADOR  GERARD" 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
Washington,  December  18,  1916. 
The  President  directs  me  to  send  you  the  following 
communication  to  be  presented  immediately  to  the  Min 
ister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Government  to  which 
you  are  accredited: 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  has  instructed 
me  to  suggest  to  the  Imperial  German  Government  a 
course  of  action  with  regard  to  the  present  war  which 
he  hopes  that  the  Imperial  Government  will  take  under 
consideration  as  suggested  in  the  most  friendly  spirit 
and  as  coming  not  only  from  a  friend  but  also  as  coming 
from  the  representative  of  a  neutral  nation  whose  inter 
ests  have  been  most  seriously  affected  by  the  war  and 
whose  concern  for  its  early  conclusion  arises  out  of  a 
manifest  necessity  to  determine  how  best  to  safeguard 
those  interests  if  the  war  is  to  continue. 

"The  suggestion  which  I  am  instructed  to  make  the 
President  has  long  had  it  in  mind  to  offer.  He  is  some 
what  embarrassed  to  offer  it  at  this  particular  time 
because  it  may  now  seem  to  have  been  prompted  by  a 
desire  to  play  a  part  in  connection  with  the  recent 
overtures  of  the  Central  Powers.  It  has  in  fact  been  in 

1  Same,  mutatis  mutandis,  to  the  American  Diplomatic  Representatives 
accredited  to  the  Governments  of  Austria-Hungary,  Turkey,  and  Bulgaria,  and 
to  all  neutral  Governments  for  their  information. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  237 

no  way  suggested  by  them  in  its  origin  and  the  Presi 
dent  would  have  delayed  offering  it  until  those  overtures 
had  been  independently  answered  but  for  the  fact  that 
it  also  concerns  the  question  of  peace  and  may  best  be 
considered  in  connection  with  other  proposals  which 
have  the  same  end  in  view.  The  President  can  only 
beg  that  his  suggestion  be  considered  entirely  on  its 
own  merits  and  as  if  it  had  been  made  in  other  cir 
cumstances. 

"The  President  suggests  that  an  early  occasion  be 
sought  to  call  out  from  all  the  nations  now  at  war  such 
an  avowal  of  their  respective  views  as  to  the  terms  upon 
which  the  war  might  be  concluded  and  the  arrangements 
which  would  be  deemed  satisfactory  as  a  guaranty 
against  its  renewal  or  the  kindling  of  any  similar  con 
flict  in  the  future  as  would  make  it  possible  frankly  to 
compare  them.  He  is  indifferent  as  to  the  means  taken 
to  accomplish  this.  He  would  be  happy  himself  to  serve, 
or  even  to  take  the  initiative  in  its  accomplishment,  in 
any  way  that  might  prove  acceptable,  but  he  has  no 
desire  to  determine  the  method  or  the  instrumentality. 
One  way  will  be  as  acceptable  to  him  as  another  if  only 
the  great  object  he  has  in  mind  be  attained. 

"He  takes  the  liberty  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  objects  which  the  statesmen  of  the  belligerents 
on  both  sides  have  in  mind  in  this  war  are  virtually  the 
same,  as  stated  in  general  terms  to  their  own  people  and 
to  the  world.  Each  side  desires  to  make  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  weak  peoples  and  small  states  as  secure 
against  aggression  or  denial  in  the  future  as  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  great  and  powerful  states  now  at 
war.  Each  wishes  itself  to  be  made  secure  in  the  future, 
along  with  all  other  nations  and  peoples,  against  the 
recurrence  of  wars  like  this,  and  against  aggression  of 
selfish  interference  of  any  kind.  Each  would  be  jealous 


238          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

of  the  formation  of  any  more  rival  leagues  to  preserve 
an  uncertain  balance  of  power  amidst  multiplying  sus 
picions;  but  each  is  ready  to  consider  the  formation  of 
a  league  of  nations  to  insure  peace  and  justice  through 
out  the  world.  Before  that  final  step  can  be  taken, 
however,  each  deems  it  necessary  first  to  settle  the  issues 
of  the  present  war  upon  terms  which  will  certainly  safe 
guard  the  independence,  the  territorial  integrity,  and 
the  political  and  commercial  freedom  of  the  nations 
involved. 

"In  the  measures  to  be  taken  to  secure  the  future 
peace  of  the  world  the  people  and  Government  of  the 
United  States  are  as  vitally  and  as  directly  interested 
as  the  Governments  now  at  war.  Their  interest,  more 
over,  in  the  means  to  be  adopted  to  relieve  the  smaller 
and  weaker  peoples  of  the  world  of  the  peril  of  wrong 
and  violence  is  as  quick  and  ardent  as  that  of  any  other 
people  or  Government.  They  stand  ready,  and  even 
eager,  to  co-operate  in  the  accomplishment  of  these 
ends,  when  the  war  is  over,  with  every  influence  and 
resource  at  their  command.  But  the  war  must  first  be 
concluded.  The  terms  upon  which  it  is  to  be  concluded 
they  are  not  at  liberty  to  suggest;  but  the  President 
does  feel  that  it  is  his  right  and  his  duty  to  point  out 
their  intimate  interest  in  its  conclusion,  lest  it  should 
presently  be  too  late  to  accomplish  the  greater  things 
which  lie  beyond  its  conclusion,  lest  the  situation  of  neu 
tral  nations,  now  exceedingly  hard  to  endure,  be  ren 
dered  altogether  intolerable,  and  lest,  more  than  all,  an 
injury  be  done  civilization  itself  which  can  never  be 
atoned  for  or  repaired. 

"The  President  therefore  feels  altogether  justified  in 
suggesting  an  immediate  opportunity  for  a  comparison 
of  views  as  to  the  terms  which  must  precede  those  ulti 
mate  arrangements  for  the  peace  of  the  world,  which 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  239 

all  desire  and  in  which  the  neutral  nations  as  well  as 
those  at  war  are  ready  to  play  their  full  responsible 
part.  If  the  contest  must  continue  to  proceed  towards 
undefined  ends  by  slow  attrition  until  the  one  group  of 
belligerents  or  the  other  is  exhausted,  if  million  after 
million  of  human  lives  must  continue  to  be  offered  up 
until  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  there  are  no  more 
to  offer,  if  resentments  must  be  kindled  that  can  never 
cool  and  despairs  engendered  from  which  there  can  be 
no  recovery,  hopes  of  peace  and  of  the  willing  concert 
of  free  peoples  will  be  rendered  vain  and  idle. 

"The  life  of  the  entire  world  has  been  profoundly 
affected.  Every  part  of  the  great  family  of  mankind 
has  felt  the  burden  and  terror  of  this  unprecedented 
contest  of  arms.  No  nation  in  the  civilized  world  can 
be  said  in  truth  to  stand  outside  its  influence  or  to  be 
safe  against  its  disturbing  effects.  And  yet  the  concrete 
objects  for  which  it  is  being  waged  have  never  been 
definitely  stated. 

"The  leaders  of  the  several  belligerents  have,  as  has 
been  said,  stated  those  objects  in  general  terms.  But, 
stated  in  general  terms,  they  seem  the  same  on  both 
sides.  Never  yet  have  the  authoritative  spokesmen  of 
either  side  avowed  the  precise  objects  which  would,  if 
attained,  satisfy  them  and  their  people  that  the  war  had 
been  fought  out.  The  world  has  been  left  to  conjecture 
what  definitive  results,  what  actual  exchange  of  guaran 
ties,  what  political  or  territorial  changes  or  readjust 
ments,  what  stage  of  military  success  even,  would  bring 
the  war  to  an  end. 

"It  may  be  that  peace  is  nearer  than  we  know;  that 
the  terms  which  the  belligerents  on  the  one  side  and  on 
the  other  would  deem  it  necessary  to  insist  upon  are  not 
so  irreconcilable  as  some  have  feared;  that  an  inter 
change  of  views  would  clear  the  way  at  least  for  confer- 


240          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

ence  and  make  the  permanent  concord  of  the  nations  a 
hope  of  the  immediate  future,  a  concert  of  nations 
immediately  practicable. 

"The  President  is  not  proposing  peace;  he  is  not 
even  offering  mediation.  He  is  merely  proposing  that 
soundings  be  taken  in  order  that  we  may  learn,  the 
neutral  nations  with  the  belligerent,  how  near  the  haven 
of  peace  may  be  for  which  all  mankind  longs  with  an 
intense  and  increasing  longing.  He  believes  that  the 
spirit  in  which  he  speaks  and  the  objects  which  he  seeks 
will  be  understood  by  all  concerned,  and  he  confidently 
hopes  for  a  response  which  will  bring  a  new  light  into 
the  affairs  of  the  world." 

LANSING. 


SUGGESTION  TO  THE  ENTENTE  ALLIES  THAT  TERMS  OF  PEACE  BE 

DISCUSSED 

THE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  TO  AMBASSADOR  PAGE  1 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE, 
Washington,  December  18,  1916. 
The  President  directs  me  to  send  you  the  following 
communication  to  be  presented  immediately  to  the  Min 
ister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Government  to  which 
you  are  accredited: 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  has  instructed 
me  to  suggest  to  His  Majesty's  Government  a  course  of 
action  with  regard  to  the  present  war  which  he  hopes 
that  the  British  Government  will  take  under  considera- 

1  Same,  mutatis  mutandis,  to  the  American  Diplomatic  Representatives 
accredited  to  the  Governments  of  France,  Italy,  Japan,  Russia,  Belg'um, 
Montenegro.  Portugal.  Roumania,  and  Servia,  and  to  all  neutral  Governments 
for  their  information. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  241 

tion  as  suggested  in  the  most  friendly  spirit  and  as 
coming  not  only  from  a  friend  but  also  as  coming  from 
the  representative  of  a  neutral  nation  whose  interests 
have  been  most  seriously  affected  by  the  war  and  whose 
concern  for  its  early  conclusion  arises  out  of  a  mani 
fest  necessity  to  determine  how  best  to  safeguard  those 
interests  if  the  war  is  to  continue. 

"The  suggestion  which  I  am  instructed  to  make  the 
President  has  long  had  it  in  mind  to  offer.  He  is  some 
what  embarrassed  to  offer  it  at  this  particular  time 
because  it  may  now  seem  to  have  been  prompted  by  the 
recent  overtures  of  the  Central  Powers.  It  is  in  fact  in 
no  way  associated  with  them  in  its  origin  and  the  Presi 
dent  would  have  delayed  offering  it  until  those  over 
tures  had  been  answered  but  for  the  fact  that  it  also 
concerns  the  question  of  peace  and  may  best  be  con 
sidered  in  connection  with  other  proposals  which  have 
the  same  end  in  view.  The  President  can  only  beg 
that  his  suggestion  be  considered  entirely  on  its  own 
merits  and  as  if  it  had  been  made  in  other  circum 
stances. 

4 'The  President  suggests  that  an  early  occasion  be 
sought  to  call  out  from  all  the  nations  now  at  war  such 
an  avowal  of  their  respective  views  as  to  the  terms  upon 
which  the  war  might  be  concluded  and  the  arrangements 
which  would  be  deemed  satisfactory  as  a  guaranty 
against  its  renewal  or  the  kindling  of  any  similar  con 
flict  in  the  future  as  would  make  it  possible  frankly  to 
compare  them.  He  is  indifferent  as  to  the  means  taken 
to  accomplish  this.  He  would  be  happy  himself  to  serve 
or  even  to  take  the  initiative  in  its  accomplishment  in 
any  way  that  might  prove  acceptable,  but  he  has  no 
desire  to  determine  the  method  or  the  instrumentality. 
One  way  will  be  as  acceptable  to  him  as  another  if  only 
the  great  object  he  has  in  mind  be  attained. 


242          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

"He  takes  the  liberty  of  calling  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  objects  which  the  statesmen  of  the  belligerents 
on  both  sides  have  in  mind  in  this  war  are  virtually  the 
same,  as  stated  in  general  terms  to  their  own  people  and 
to  the  world.  Each  side  desires  to  make  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  weak  peoples  and  small  States  as  secure 
against  aggression  or  denial  in  the  future  as  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  great  and  powerful  States  now  at 
war.  Each  wishes  itself  to  be  made  secure  in  the  future, 
along  with  all  other  nations  and  peoples,  against  the 
recurrence  of  wars  like  this  and  against  aggression  of 
selfish  interference  of  any  kind.  Each  would  be  jealous 
of  the  formation  of  any  more  rival  leagues  to  preserve 
an  uncertain  balance  of  power  amidst  multiplying  sus 
picions;  but  each  is  ready  to  consider  the  formation  of 
a  league  of  nations  to  insure  peace  and  justice  through 
out  the  world.  Before  that  final  step  can  be  taken, 
however,  each  deems  it  necessary  first  to  settle  the  issues 
of  the  present  war  upon  terms  which  will  certainly  safe 
guard  the  independence,  the  territorial  integrity,  and 
the  political  and  commercial  freedom  of  the  nations 
involved. 

"In  the  measures  to  be  taken  to  secure  the  future 
peace  of  the  world  the  people  and  Government  of  the 
United  States  are  as  vitally  and  as  directly  interested 
as  the  Governments  now  at  war.  Their  interest,  more 
over,  in  the  means  to  be  adopted  to  relieve  the  smaller 
and  weaker  peoples  of  the  world  of  the  peril  of  wrong 
and  violence  is  as  quick  and  ardent  as  that  of  any  other 
people  or  Government.  They  stand  ready,  and  even 
eager,  to  co-operate  in  the  accomplishment  of  these 
ends,  when  the  war  is  over,  with  every  influence  and 
resource  at  their  command.  But  the  war  must  first  be 
concluded.  The  terms  upon  which  it  is  to  be  concluded 
they  are  not  at  liberty  to  suggest;  but  the  President 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  243 

does  feel  that  it  is  his  right  and  his  duty  to  point  out 
their  intimate  interest  in  its  conclusion,  lest  it  should 
presently  be  too  late  to  accomplish  the  greater  things 
which  lie  beyond  its  conclusion,  lest  the  situation  of  neu 
tral  nations,  now  exceedingly  hard  to  endure,  be  ren 
dered  altogether  intolerable,  and  lest,  more  than  all,  an 
injury  be  done  civilization  itself  which  can  never  be 
atoned  for  or  repaired. 

4 'The  President  therefore  feels  altogether  justified  in 
suggesting  an  immediate  opportunity  for  a  comparison 
of  views  as  to  the  terms  which  must  precede  those  ulti 
mate  arrangements  for  the  peace  of  the  world,  which 
all  desire  and  in  which  the  neutral  nations  as  well  as 
those  at  war  are  ready  to  play  their  full  responsible 
part.  If  the  contest  must  continue  to  proceed  towards 
undefined  ends  by  slow  attrition  until  the  one  group  of 
belligerents  or  the  other  is  exhausted,  if  million  after 
million  of  human  lives  must  continue  to  be  offered  up 
until  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  there  are  no  more 
to  offer,  if  resentments  must  be  kindled  that  can  never 
cool  and  despairs  engendered  from  which  there  can  be 
no  recovery,  hopes  of  peace  and  of  the  willing  concert 
of  free  peoples  will  be  rendered  vain  and  idle. 

"The  life  of  the  entire  world  has  been  profoundly 
affected.  Every  part  of  the  great  family  of  mankind 
has  felt  the  burden  and  terror  of  this  unprecedented 
contest  of  arms.  No  nation  in  the  civilized  world  can 
be  said  in  truth  to  stand  outside  its  influence  or  to  be 
safe  against  its  disturbing  effects.  And  yet  the  concrete 
objects  for  which  it  is  being  waged  have  never  been 
definitely  stated. 

"The  leaders  of  the  several  belligerents  have,  as  has 
been  said,  stated  those  objects  in  general  terms.  But, 
stated  in  general  terms,  they  seem  the  same  on  both 
sides.  Never  yet  have  the  authoritative  spokesmen  of 


244          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

either  side  avowed  the  precise  objects  which  would,  if 
attained,  satisfy  them  and  their  people  that  the  war  had 
been  fought  out.  The  world  has  been  left  to  conjecture 
what  definitive  results,  what  actual  exchange  of  guaran 
tees,  what  political  or  territorial  changes  or  readjust 
ments,  what  stage  of  military  success  even,  would  bring 
the  war  to  an  end. 

"It  may  be  that  peace  is  nearer  than  we  know;  that 
the  terms  which  the  belligerents  on  the  one  side  and  on 
the  other  would  deem  it  necessary  to  insist  upon  are  not 
so  irreconcilable  as  some  have  feared;  that  an  inter 
change  of  views  would  clear  the  way  at  least  for  confer 
ence  and  make  the  permanent  concord  of  the  nations  a 
hope  of  the  immediate  future,  a  concert  of  nations 
immediately  practicable. 

"The  President  is  not  proposing  peace;  he  is  not 
even  offering  mediation.  He  is  merely  proposing  that 
soundings  be  taken  in  order  that  we  may  learn,  the 
neutral  nations  with  the  belligerent,  how  near  the  haven 
of  peace  may  be  for  which  all  mankind  longs  with  an 
intense  and  increasing  longing.  He  believes  that  the 
spirit  in  which  he  speaks  and  the  objects  which  he  seeks 
will  be  understood  by  all  concerned,  and  he  confidently 
hopes  for  a  response  which  will  bring  a  new  light  into 
the  affairs  of  the  world." 

LANSING. 


ADDRESS  ON  THE  ESSENTIALS  OF  PERMA 
NENT    PEACE,    DELIVERED    TO    THE 
SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
JANUARY  22,  1917 

In  the  Presidency  of  Washington  and  of  Adams  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
President  to  repair  to  the  Congress  to  read  in  person  his  messages,  which  were 
therefore  addresses  to  the  Congress  by  the  President.  President  Jefferson 
conceived  it  to  be  more  democratic  and  in  keeping  with  the  position  of  the 
President  to  send,  rather  than  to  deliver  in  person,  his  messages;  and  his 
successors  followed  his  initiative,  which  seemed  to  have  become  both  a  prece 
dent  and  a  custom.  President  Wilson,  however,  returned  to  the  practice  of 
the  Fathers  with  his  address  to  the  Congress  on  Mexican  affairs,  August  27, 
1913,  and  each  succeeding  message  of  importance  has  been  delivered  by  him 
in  person,  whether  it  be  special  or  whether  it  be  annual. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  was,  in  foreign  affairs,  meant  to  be  an  ad 
visory  as  well  as  a  controlling  body,  controlling  in  the  sense  that  all  treaties  and 
conventions  negotiated  with  the  President  are  mere  proposals  until  their  rati 
fication  has  been  advised  and  consented  to  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
at  the  time  of  the  vote  taken  upon  their  disposition.  President  Washington 
was  wont  to  consult  in  person  the  Senate,  and  President  Wilson  revived  this 
custom  by  the  address  under  consideration. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  SENATE: 

On  the  eighteenth  of  December  last  I  addressed  an 
identic  note  to  the  governments  of  the  nations  now  at 
war  requesting  them  to  state,  more  definitely  than  they 
had  yet  been  stated  by  either  group  of  belligerents,  the 
terms  upon  which  they  would  deem  it  possible  to  make 
peace.  I  spoke  on  behalf  of  humanity  and  of  the  rights 
of  all  neutral  nations  like  our  own,  many  of  whose  most 
vital  interests  the  war  puts  in  constant  jeopardy.  The 
Central  Powers  united  in  a  reply  which  stated  merely 
that  they  were  ready  to  meet  their  antagonists  in  con 
ference  to  discuss  terms  of  peace.  The  Entente  Powers 
have  replied  much  more  definitely  and  have  stated,  in 
general  terms,  indeed,  but  with  sufficient  definiteness  to 

245 


246          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

imply  details,  the  arrangements,  guarantees,  and  acts 
of  reparation  which  they  deem  to  be  the  indispensable 
conditions  of  a  satisfactory  settlement.  We  are  that 
much  nearer  a  definite  discussion  of  the  peace  which 
shall  end  the  present  war.  We  are  that  much  nearer 
the  discussion  of  the  international  concert  which  must 
thereafter  hold  the  world  at  peace.  In  every  discussion 
of  the  peace  that  must  end  this  war  it  is  taken  for 
granted  that  that  peace  must  be  followed  by  some  defi 
nite  concert  of  power  which  will  make  it  virtually 
impossible  that  any  such  catastrophe  should  ever  over 
whelm  us  again.  Every  lover  of  mankind,  every  sane 
and  thoughtful  man  must  take  that  for  granted. 

I  have  sought  this  opportunity  to  address  you  be 
cause  I  thought  that  I  owed  it  to  you,  as  the  council 
associated  with  me  in  the  final  determination  of  our 
international  obligations,  to  disclose  to  you  without 
reserve  the  thought  and  purpose  that  have  been  taking 
form  in  my  mind  in  regard  to  the  duty  of  our  Govern 
ment  in  the  days  to  come  when  it  will  be  necessary  to 
lay  afresh  and  upon  a  new  plan  the  foundations  of 
peace  among  the  nations. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  should  play  no  part  in  that  great  enterprise. 
To  take  part  in  such  a  service  will  be  the  opportunity 
for  which  they  have  sought  to  prepare  themselves  by  the 
very  principles  and  purposes  of  their  polity  and  the 
approved  practices  of  their  Government  ever  since  the 
days  when  they  set  up  a  new  nation  in  the  high  and 
honorable  hope  that  it  might  in  all  that  it  was  and  did 
show  mankind  the  way  to  liberty.  They  cannot  in 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  247 

honor  withhold  the  service  to  which  they  are  now  about 
to  be  challenged.  They  do  not  wish  to  withhold  it.  But 
they  owe  it  to  themselves  and  to  the  other  nations  of 
the  world  to  state  the  conditions  under  which  they  will 
feel  free  to  render  it. 

That  service  is  nothing  less  than  this,  to  add  their 
authority  and  their  power  to  the  authority  and  force 
of  other  nations  to  guarantee  peace  and  justice  through 
out  the  world.  Such  a  settlement  cannot  now  be  long 
postponed.  It  is  right  that  before  it  comes  this  Govern 
ment  should  frankly  formulate  the  conditions  upon 
which  it  would  feel  justified  in  asking  our  people  to 
approve  its  formal  and  solemn  adherence  to  a  League 
for  Peace.  I  am  here  to  attempt  to  state  those  con 
ditions. 

The  present  war  must  first  be  ended;  but  we  owe  it 
to  candor  and  to  a  just  regard  for  the  opinion  of  man 
kind  to  say  that,  so  far  as  our  participation  in  guaran 
tees  of  future  peace  is  concerned,  it  makes  a  great  deal 
of  difference  in  what  way  and  upon  what  terms  it  is 
ended.  The  treaties  and  agreements  which  bring  it  to 
an  end  must  embody  terms  which  will  create  a  peace 
that  is  worth  guaranteeing  and  preserving,  a  peace  that 
will  win  the  approval  of  mankind,  not  merely  a  peace 
that  will  serve  the  several  interests  and  immediate  aims 
of  the  nations  engaged.  We  shall  have  no  voice  in 
determining  what  those  terms  shall  be,  but  we  shall,  I 
feel  sure,  have  a  voice  in  determining  whether  they 
shall  be  made  lasting  or  not  by  the  guarantees  of  a 
universal  covenant;  and  our  judgment  upon  what  is 
fundamental  and  essential  as  a  condition  precedent  to 


248          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

permanency  should  be  spoken  now,  not  afterwards  when 
it  may  be  too  late. 

No  covenant  of  co-operative  peace  that  does  not 
include  the  peoples  of  the  New  "World  can  suffice  to 
keep  the  future  safe  against  war;  and  yet  there  is  only 
one  sort  of  peace  that  the  peoples  of  America  could  join 
in  guaranteeing.  The  elements  of  that  peace  must  be 
elements  that  engage  the  confidence  and  satisfy  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  American  governments,  elements  consistent 
with  their  political  faith  and  with  the  practical  convic 
tions  which  the  peoples  of  America  have  once  for  all 
embraced  and  undertaken  to  defend. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  any  American  government 
would  throw  any  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any  terms  of 
peace  the  governments  now  at  war  might  agree  upon, 
or  seek  to  upset  them  when  made,  whatever  they  might 
be.  I  only  take  it  for  granted  that  mere  terms  of  peace 
between  the  belligerents  will  not  satisfy  even  the  bellig 
erents  themselves.  Mere  agreements  may  not  make 
peace  secure.  It  will  be  absolutely  necessary  that  a 
force  be  created  as  a  guarantor  of  the  permanency  of 
the  settlement  so  much  greater  than  the  force  of  any 
nation  now  engaged  or  any  alliance  hitherto  formed  or 
projected  that  no  nation,  no  probable  combination  of 
nations  could  face  or  withstand  it.  If  the  peace  pres 
ently  to  be  made  is  to  endure,  it  must  be  a  peace  made 
secure  by  the  organized  major  force  of  mankind. 

The  terms  of  the  immediate  peace  agreed  upon  will 
determine  whether  it  is  a  peace  for  which  such  a  guar 
antee  can  be  secured.  The  question  upon  which  the 
whole  future  peace  and  policy  of  the  world  depends  is 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  249 

this :  Is  the  present  war  a  struggle  for  a  just  and  secure 
peace,  or  only  for  a  new  balance  of  power  ?  If  it  be 
only  a  struggle  for  a  new  balance  of  power,  who  will 
guarantee,  who  can  guarantee,  the  stable  equilibrium  of 
the  new  arrangement?  Only  a  tranquil  Europe  can  be 
a  stable  Europe.  There  must  be,  not  a  balance  of  power, 
but  a  community  of  power;  not  organized  rivalries,  but 
an  organized  common  peace. 

Fortunately  we  have  received  very  explicit  assur 
ances  on  this  point.  The  statesmen  of  both  of  the  groups 
of  nations  now  arrayed  against  one  another  have  said, 
in  terms  that  could  not  be  misinterpreted,  that  it  was 
no  part  of  the  purpose  they  had  in  mind  to  crush  their 
antagonists.  But  the  implications  of  these  assurances 
may  not  be  equally  clear  to  all, — may  not  be  the  same 
on  both  sides  of  the  water.  I  think  it  will  be  service 
able  if  I  attempt  to  set  forth  what  we  understand  them 
to  be. 

They  imply,  first  of  all,  that  it  must  be  a  peace  with 
out  victory.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  say  this.  I  beg  that 
I  may  be  permitted  to  put  my  own  interpretation  upon 
it  and  that  it  may  be  understood  that  no  other  inter 
pretation  was  in  my  thought.  I  am  seeking  only  to 
face  realities  and  to  face  them  without  soft  conceal 
ments.  Victory  would  mean  peace  forced  upon  the  loser, 
a  victor's  terms  imposed  upon  the  vanquished.  It  would 
be  accepted  in  humiliation,  under  duress,  at  an  intoler 
able  sacrifice,  and  would  leave  a  sting,  a  resentment,  a 
bitter  memory  upon  which  terms  of  peace  would  rest, 
not  permanently,  but  only  as  upon  quicksand.  Only  a  ' 
peace  between  equals  can  last.  Only  a  peace  the  very 


250          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

principle  of  which  is  equality  and  a  common  participa 
tion  in  a  common  benefit.  The  right  state  of  mind,  the 
right  feeling  between  nations,  is  as  necessary  for  a  last 
ing  peace  as  is  the  just  settlement  of  vexed  questions  of 
territory  or  of  racial  and  national  allegiance. 

The  equality  of  nations  upon  which  peace  must  be 
founded  if  it  is  to  last  must  be  an  equality  of  rights; 
the  guarantees  exchanged  must  neither  recognize  nor 
imply  a  difference  between  big  nations  and  small,  be 
tween  those  that  are  powerful  and  those  that  are  weak. 
Eight  must  be  based  upon  the  common  strength,  not 
upon  the  individual  strength,  of  the  nations  upon  whose 
concert  peace  will  depend.  Equality  of  territory  or  of 
resources  there  of  course  cannot  be;  nor  any  other  sort 
of  equality  not  gained  in  the  ordinary  peaceful  and 
legitimate  development  of  the  peoples  themselves.  But 
no  one  asks  or  expects  anything  more  than  an  equality 
of  rights.  Mankind  is  looking  now  for  freedom  of  life, 
not  for  equipoises  of  power. 

And  there  is  a  deeper  thing  involved  than  even 
equality  of  right  among  organized  nations.  No  peace 
can  last,  or  ought  to  last,  which  does  not  recognize  and 
accept  the  principle  that  governments  derive  all  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and  that 
no  right  anywhere  exists  to  hand  peoples  about  from 
sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if  they  were  property.  I 
take  it  for  granted,  for  instance,  if  I  may  venture  upon 
a  single  example,  that  statesmen  everywhere  are  agreed 
that  there  should  be  a  united,  independent,  and  auton 
omous  Poland,  and  that  henceforth  inviolable  security 
of  life,  of  worship,  and  of  industrial  and  social  devel- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  251 

opment  should  be  guaranteed  to  all  peoples  who  have 
lived  hitherto  under  the  power  of  governments  devoted 
to  a  faith  and  purpose  hostile  to  their  own. 

I  speak  of  this,  not  because  of  any  desire  to  exalt  an 
abstract  political  principle  which  has  always  been  held 
very  dear  by  those  who  have  sought  to  build  up  liberty 
in  America,  but  for  the  same  reason  that  I  have  spoken 
of  the  other  conditions  of  peace  which  seem  to  me 
clearly  indispensable, — because  I  wish  frankly  to  un 
cover  realities.  Any  peace  which  does  not  recognize 
and  accept  this  principle  will  inevitably  be  upset.  It 
will  not  rest  upon  the  affections  or  the  convictions  of 
mankind.  The  ferment  of  spirit  of  whole  populations 
will  fight  subtly  and  constantly  against  it,  and  all  the 
world  will  sympathize.  The  world  can  be  at  peace  only 
if  its  life  is  stable,  and  there  can  be  no  stability  where 
the  will  is  in  rebellion,  where  there  is  not  tranquillity  of 
spirit  and  a  sense  of  justice,  of  freedom,  and  of  right. 

So  far  as  practicable,  moreover,  every  great  people 
now  struggling  towards  a  full  development  of  its  re- 
sources  and  of  its  powers  should  be  assured  a  direct 
outlet  to  the  great  highways  of  the  sea.  Where  this 
cannot  be  done  by  the  cession  of  territory,  it  can  no 
doubt  be  done  by  the  neutralization  of  direct  rights 
of  way  under  the  general  guarantee  which  will  assure 
the  peace  itself.  "With  a  right  comity  of  arrangement 
no  nation  need  be  shut  away  from  free  access  to  the 
open  paths  of  the  world's  commerce. 

And  the  paths  of  the  sea  must  alike  in  law  and  in 
fact  be  free.  The  freedom  of  the  seas  is  the  sine  qua  non 
of  peace,  equality,  and  co-operation.  No  doubt  a  some- 


252          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

what  radical  reconsideration  of  many  of  the  rules  of 
international  practice  hitherto  thought  to  be  established 
may  be  necessary  in  order  to  make  the  seas  indeed  free 
and  common  in  practically  all  circumstances  for  the  use 
of  mankind,  but  the  motive  for  such  changes  is  con 
vincing  and  compelling.  There  can  be  no  trust  or 
intimacy  between  the  peoples  of  the  world  without  them. 
The  free,  constant,  unthreatened  intercourse  of  nations 
is  an  essential  part  of  the  process  of  peace  and  of  devel 
opment.  It  need  not  be  difficult  either  to  define  or  to 
secure  the  freedom  of  the  seas  if  the  governments  of 
the  world  sincerely  desire  to  come  to  an  agreement  con 
cerning  it. 

It  is  a  problem  closely  connected  with  the  limitation 
of  naval  armaments  and  the  co-operation  of  the  navies 
of  the  world  in  keeping  the  seas  at  once  free  and  safe. 
And  the  question  of  limiting  naval  armaments  opens  the 
wider  and  perhaps  more  difficult  question  of  the  limi 
tation  of  armies  and  of  all  programs  of  military  prep 
aration.  Difficult  and  delicate  as  these  questions  are, 
they  must  be  faced  with  the  utmost  candor  and  decided 
in  a  spirit  of  real  accommodation  if  peace  is  to  come 
with  healing  in  its  wings,  and  come  to  stay.  Peace  can 
not  be  had  without  concession  and  sacrifice.  There  can 
be  no  sense  of  safety  and  equality  among  the  nations  if 
great  preponderating  armaments  are  henceforth  to  con 
tinue  here  and  there  to  be  built  up  and  maintained. 
The  statesmen  of  the  world  must  plan  for  peace  and 
nations  must  adjust  and  accommodate  their  policy  to 
it  as  they  have  planned  for  war  and  made  ready  for 
pitiless  contest  and  rivalry.  The  question  of  armaments, 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  253 

whether  on  land  or  sea,  is  the  most  immediately  and 
intensely  practical  question  connected  with  the  future 
fortunes  of  nations  and  of  mankind. 

I  have  spoken  upon  these  great  matters  without 
reserve  and  with  the  utmost  explicitness  because  it  has 
seemed  to  me  to  be  necessary  if  the  world's  yearning 
desire  for  peace  was  anywhere  to  find  free  voice  and 
utterance.  Perhaps  I  am  the  only  person  in  high 
authority  amongst  all  the  peoples  of  the  world  who  is 
at  liberty  to  speak  and  hold  nothing  back.  I  am  speak 
ing  as  an  individual,  and  yet  I  am  speaking  also,  of 
course,  as  the  responsible  head  of  a  great  government, 
and  I  feel  confident  that  I  have  said  what  the  people 
of  the  United  States  would  wish  me  to  say.  May  I  not 
add  that  I  hope  and  believe  that  I  am  in  effect  speak 
ing  for  liberals  and  friends  of  humanity  in  every  nation 
and  of  every  program  of  liberty?  I  would  fain  believe 
that  I  am  speaking  for  the  silent  mass  of  mankind 
everywhere  who  have  as  yet  had  no  place  or  opportunity 
to  speak  their  real  hearts  out  concerning  the  death  and 
ruin  they  see  to  have  come  already  upon  the  persons 
and  the  homes  they  hold  most  dear. 

And  in  holding  out  the  expectation  that  the  people 
and  Government  of  the  United  States  will  join  the  other 
civilized  nations  of  the  world  in  guaranteeing  the  per 
manence  of  peace  upon  such  terms  as  I  have  named  I 
speak  with  the  greater  boldness  and  confidence  because 
it  is  clear  to  every  man  who  can  think  that  there  is  in 
this  promise  no  breach  in  either  our  traditions  or  our 
policy  as  a  nation,  but  a  fulfillment,  rather,  of  all  that 
we  have  professed  or  striven  for. 


254          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

I  am  proposing,  as  it  were,  that  the  nations  should 
with  one  accord  adopt  the  doctrine  of  President  Monroe 
as  the  doctrine  of  the  world :  that  no  nation  should  seek 
to  extend  its  polity  over  any  other  nation  or  people,  but 
that  every  people  should  be  left  free  to  determine  its 
own  polity,  its  own  way  of  development,  unhindered, 
unthreatened,  unafraid,  the  little  along  with  the  great 
and  powerful. 

I  am  proposing  that  all  nations  henceforth  avoid 
entangling  alliances  which  would  draw  them  into  com 
petitions  of  power,  catch  them  in  a  net  of  intrigue  and 
selfish  rivalry,  and  disturb  their  own  affairs  with  influ 
ences  intruded  from  without.  There  is  no  entangling 
alliance  in  a  concert  of  power.  When  all  unite  to  act 
in  the  same  sense  and  with  the  same  purpose  all  act 
in  the  common  interest  and  are  free  to  live  their  own 
lives  under  a  common  protection. 

I  am  proposing  government  by  the  consent  of  the 
governed;  that  freedom  of  the  seas  which  in  inter 
national  conference  after  conference  representatives  of 
the  United  States  have  urged  with  the  eloquence  of 
those  who  are  the  convinced  disciples  of  liberty;  and 
that  moderation  of  armaments  which  makes  of  armies 
and  navies  a  power  for  order  merely,  not  an  instru 
ment  of  aggression  or  of  selfish  violence. 

These  are  American  principles,  American  policies. 
We  could  stand  for  no  others.  And  they  are  also  the 
principles  and  policies  of  forward  looking  men  and 
women  everywhere,  of  every  modern  nation,  of  every 
enlightened  community.  They  are  the  principles  of 
mankind  and  must  prevail. 


ADDRESS    ANNOUNCING    THE    SEVERANCE 
OF  DIPLOMATIC  RELATIONS  BETWEEN 
THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  IMPE 
RIAL  GERMAN  GOVERNMENT,  DE 
LIVERED  AT  A  JOINT  SESSION 
OF    THE    TWO    HOUSES    OF 
CONGRESS,  FEBRUARY 
3,   1917 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

The  Imperial  German  Government  on  the  thirty- 
first  of  January  announced  to  this  Government  and  to 
the  governments  of  the  other  neutral  nations  that  on 
and  after  the  first  day  of  February,  the  present  month, 
it  would  adopt  a  policy  with  regard  to  the  use  of  sub 
marines  against  all  shipping  seeking  to  pass  through 
certain  designated  areas  of  the  high  seas  to  which  it  is 
clearly  my  duty  to  call  your  attention. 

Let  me  remind  the  Congress  that  on  the  eighteenth 
of  April  last,  in  view  of  the  sinking  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  March  of  the  cross-channel  passenger  steamer 
Sussex  by  a  German  submarine,  without  summons  or 
warning,  and  the  consequent  loss  of  the  lives  of  sev 
eral  citizens  of  the  United  States  who  were  passengers 
aboard  her,  this  Government  addressed  a  note  to  the 
Imperial  German  Government  in  which  it  made  the 
following  declaration: 

"If  it  is  still  the  purpose  of  the  Imperial  Govern 
ment  to  prosecute  relentless  and  indiscriminate  warfare 

255 


256          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

against  vessels  of  commerce  by  the  use  of  submarines 
without  regard  to  what  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  must  consider  the  sacred  and  indisputable  rules 
of  international  law  and  the  universally  recognized  dic 
tates  of  humanity,  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
is  at  last  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  but  one 
course  it  can  pursue.  Unless  the  Imperial  Government 
should  now  immediately  declare  and  effect  an  abandon 
ment  of  its  present  methods  of  submarine  warfare 
against  passenger  and  freight-carrying  vessels,  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  can  have  no  choice  but 
to  sever  diplomatic  relations  with  the  German  Empire 
altogether. ' ' 

In  reply  to  this  declaration  the  Imperial  German 
Government  gave  this  Government  the  following  assur 
ance  : 

"The  German  Government  is  prepared  to  do  its 
utmost  to  confine  the  operations  of  war  for  the  rest  of 
its  duration  to  the  fighting  forces  of  the  belligerents, 
thereby  also  insuring  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  a  prin 
ciple  upon  which  the  German  Government  believes,  now 
as  before,  to  be  in  agreement  with  the  Government  of 
the  United  States. 

"The  German  Government,  guided  by  this  idea, 
notifies  the  Government  of  the  United  States  that  the 
German  naval  forces  have  received  the  following  orders : 
In  accordance  with  the  general  principles  of  visit  and 
search  and  destruction  of  merchant  vessels  recognized 
by  international  law,  such  vessels,  both  within  and  with 
out  the  area  declared  as  naval  war  zone,  shall  not  be 
sunk  without  warning  and  without  saving  human  lives, 
unless  these  ships  attempt  to  escape  or  offer  resistance. 

"But,"  it  added,  "neutrals  cannot  expect  that  Ger 
many,  forced  to  fight  for  her  existence,  shall,  for  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  257 

sake  of  neutral  interest,  restrict  the  use  of  an  effective 
weapon  if  her  enemy  is  permitted  to  continue  to  apply 
at  will  methods  of  warfare  violating  the  rules  of  inter 
national  law.  Such  a  demand  would  be  incompatible 
with  the  character  of  neutrality,  and  the  German  Gov 
ernment  is  convinced  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  does  not  think  of  making  such  a  demand,  know 
ing  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
repeatedly  declared  that  it  is  determined  to  restore  the 
principle  of  the  freedom  of  the  seas,  from  whatever 
quarter  it  has  been  violated." 

To  this  the  Government  of  the  United  States  replied 
on  the  eighth  of  May,  accepting,  of  course,  the  assur 
ances  given,  but  adding, 

"The  Government  of  the  United  States  feels  it 
necessary  to  state  that  it  takes  it  for  granted  that  the 
Imperial  German  Government  does  not  intend  to  imply 
that  the  maintenance  of  its  newly  announced  policy  is 
in  any  way  contingent  upon  the  course  or  result  of 
diplomatic  negotiations  between  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  and  any  other  belligerent  Government, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  certain  passages  in  the 
Imperial  Government's  note  of  the  4th  instant  might 
appear  to  be  susceptible  of  that  construction.  In  order, 
however,  to  avoid  any  possible  misunderstanding,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  notifies  the  Imperial 
Government  that  it  cannot  for  a  moment  entertain,  much 
less  discuss,  a  suggestion  that  respect  by  German  naval 
authorities  for  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States 
upon  the  high  seas  should  in  any  way  or  in  the  slightest 
degree  be  made  contingent  upon  the  conduct  of  any 
other  Government  affecting  the  rights  of  neutrals  and 
noncombatants.  Responsibility  in  such  matters  is  sin 
gle,  not  joint;  absolute,  not  relative." 


258          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

To  this  note  of  the  eighth  of  May  the  Imperial  Ger 
man  Government  made  no  reply. 

On  the  thirty-first  of  January,  the  Wednesday  of 
the  present  week,  the  German  Ambassador  handed  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  along  with  a  formal  note,  a  memo 
randum  which  contains  the  following  statement: 

"The  Imperial  Government,  therefore,  does  not 
doubt  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will 
understand  the  situation  thus  forced  upon  Germany 
by  the  Entente-Allies'  brutal  methods  of  war  and  by 
their  determination  to  destroy  the  Central  Powers,  and 
that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  further 
realize  that  the  now  openly  disclosed  intentions  of  the 
Entente-Allies  give  back  to  Germany  the  freedom  of 
action  which  she  reserved  in  her  note  addressed  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  on  May  4,  1916. 

"Under  these  circumstances  Germany  will  meet  the 
illegal  measures  of  her  enemies  by  forcibly  preventing 
after  February  1,  1917,  in  a  zone  around  Great  Britain, 
France,  Italy,  and  in  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  all 
navigation,  that  of  neutrals  included,  from  and  to  Eng 
land  and  from  and  to  France,  etc.,  etc.  All  ships  met 
within  the  zone  will  be  sunk." 

I  think  that  you  will  agree  with  me  that,  in  view 
of  this  declaration,  which  suddenly  and  without  prior 
intimation  of  any  kind  deliberately  withdraws  the 
solemn  assurance  given  in  the  Imperial  Government's 
note  of  the  fourth  of  May,  1916,  this  Government  has 
no  alternative  consistent  with  the  dignity  and  honor 
of  the  United  States  but  to  take  the  course  which,  in 
its  note  of  the  eighteenth  of  April,  1916,  it  announced 
that  it  would  take  in  the  event  that  the  German  Govern- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  259 

ment  did  not  declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  the 
methods  of  submarine  warfare  which  it  was  then  em 
ploying  and  to  which  it  now  purposes  again  to  resort. 

I  have,  therefore,  directed  the  Secretary  of  State  to 
announce  to  His  Excellency  the  German  Ambassador 
that  all  diplomatic  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  the  German  Empire  are  severed,  and  that  the 
American  Ambassador  at  Berlin  will  immediately  be 
withdrawn;  and,  in  accordance  with  this  decision,  to 
hand  to  His  Excellency  his  passports. 

Notwithstanding  this  unexpected  action  of  the  Ger 
man  Government,  this  sudden  and  deeply  deplorable 
renunciation  of  its  assurances,  given  this  Government  at 
one  of  the  most  critical  moments  of  tension  in  the  rela 
tions  of  the  two  governments,  I  refuse  to  believe  that 
it  is  the  intention  of  the  German  authorities  to  do  in 
fact  what  they  have  warned  us  they  will  feel  at  liberty 
to  do.  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  believe  that  they  will 
indeed  pay  no  regard  to  the  ancient  friendship  between 
their  people  and  our  own  or  to  the  solemn  obligations 
which  have  been  exchanged  between  them  and  destroy 
American  ships  and  take  the  lives  of  American  citizens 
in  the  willful  prosecution  of  the  ruthless  naval  program 
they  have  announced  their  intention  to  adopt.  Only 
actual  overt  acts  on  their  part  can  make  me  believe  it. 
even  now. 

If  this  inveterate  confidence  on  my  part  in  the 
sobriety  and  prudent  foresight  of  their  purpose  should 
unhappily  prove  unfounded;  if  American  ships  and 
American  lives  should  in  fact  be  sacrificed  by  their  naval 
commanders  in  heedless  contravention  of  the  just  and 


260          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

reasonable  understandings  of  international  law  and  the 
obvious  dictates  of  humanity,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of 
coming  again  before  the  Congress,  to  ask  that  authority 
be  given  me  to  use  any  means  that  may  be  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  our  seamen  and  our  people  in  the 
prosecution  of  their  peaceful  and  legitimate  errands  on 
the  high  seas.  I  can  do  nothing  less.  I  take  it  for 
granted  that  all  neutral  governments  will  take  the  same 
course. 

We  do  not  desire  any  hostile  conflict  with  the  Im 
perial  German  Government.  We  are  the  sincere  friends 
of  the  German  people  and  earnestly  desire  to  remain 
at  peace  with  the  Government  which  speaks  for  them. 
We  shall  not  believe  that  they  are  hostile  to  us  unless 
and  until  we  are  obliged  to  believe  it;  and  we  purpose 
nothing  more  than  the  reasonable  defense  of  the  un 
doubted  rights  of  our  people.  We  wish  to  serve  no 
selfish  ends.  We  seek  merely  to  stand  true  alike  in 
thought  and  in  action  to  the  immemorial  principles  of 
our  people  which  I  sought  to  express  in  my  address  to 
the  Senate  only  two  weeks  ago, — seek  merely  to  vindi 
cate  our  right  to  liberty  and  justice  and  an  unmolested 
life.  These  are  the  bases  of  peace,  not  war.  God  grant 
we  may  not  be  challenged  to  defend  them  by  acts  of 
willful  injustice  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of 
Germany ! 


ADDRESS  ON  ARMED  NEUTRALITY,  DELIV 
ERED  AT  A  JOINT   SESSION  OF   THE 
TWO     HOUSES     OF     CONGRESS, 
FEBRUARY  26,  1917 

In  the  following  address  President  Wilson  evidently  still  hoped  that  some 
form  of  defensive  action  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  would  cause  the 
Imperial  German  Government  to  reflect  and  to  mend  its  ways  before  war  actually 
broke  out  between  the  two  countries.  President  Wilson  apparently  had  in  mind 
the  armed  neutrality  of  1780  and  1800  and  the  action  of  the  United  States 
against  France  in  President  Adams'  administration,  by  which  American  mer 
chantmen  were  armed  to  defend  themselves  against  attack  of  French  cruisers 
unlawfully  overhauling  and  capturing  American  vessels  upon  the  high  seas. 

In  accordance  with  American  precedent  and  with  the  conclusion  reached  by 
the  President  in  his  address  under  consideration,  Secretary  of  State  Lansing  gave 
to  the  press  the  following  statement  on  March  12,  1917: 

"  The  Department  of  State  has  to-day  sent  the  following  statement  to  all 
foreign  missions  in  Washington  for  their  information: 

"  In  view  of  the  announcement  of  the  Imperial  German  Government  on 
January  31,  1917,  that  all  ships,  those  of  neutrals  included,  met  within  certain 
zones  of  the  high  seas,  would  be  sunk  without  any  precautions  being  taken  for 
the  safety  of  the  persons  on  board,  and  without  the  exercise  of  visit  and  search, 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  has  determined  to  place  upon  all  American 
merchant  vessels  sailing  through  the  barred  areas  an  armed  guard  for  the  pro 
tection  of  the  vessels  and  the  lives  of  the  persons  on  board." 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

I  have  again  asked  the  privilege  of  addressing  you 
because  we  are  moving  through  critical  times  during 
which  it  seems  to  me  to  be  my  duty  to  keep  in  close 
touch  with  the  Houses  of  Congress,  so  that  neither  coun 
sel  nor  action  shall  run  at  cross  purposes  between  us. 

On  the  third  of  February  I  officially  informed  you  of 
the  sudden  and  unexpected  action  of  the  Imperial  Ger 
man  Government  in  declaring  its  intention  to  disregard 
the  promises  it  had  made  to  this  Government  in  April 
last  and  undertake  immediate  submarine  operations 

261 


262          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

against  all  commerce,  whether  of  belligerents  or  of  neu 
trals,  that  should  seek  to  approach  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  Europe,  or  the  harbors 
of  the  eastern  Mediterranean,  and  to  conduct  those 
operations  without  regard  to  the  established  restrictions 
of  international  practice,  without  regard  to  any  con 
siderations  of  humanity  even  which  might  interfere 
with  their  object.  That  policy  was  forthwith  put  into 
practice.  It  has  now  been  in  active  execution  for  nearly 
four  weeks. 

Its  practical  results  are  not  yet  fully  disclosed.  The 
commerce  of  other  neutral  nations  is  suffering  severely, 
but  not,  perhaps,  very  much  more  severely  than  it  was 
already  suffering  before  the  first  of  February,  when 
the  new  policy  of  the  Imperial  Government  was  put  into 
operation.  We  have  asked  the  co-operation  of  the  other 
neutral  governments  to  prevent  these  depredations,  but 
so  far  none  of  them  has  thought  it  wise  to  join  us  in 
any  common  course  of  action.  Our  own  commerce  has 
suffered,  is  suffering,  rather  in  apprehension  than  in 
fact,  rather  because  so  many  of  our  ships  are  timidly 
keeping  to  their  home  ports  than  because  American 
ships  have  been  sunk. 

Two  American  vessels  have  been  sunk,  the  Housa- 
tonic  and  the  Lyman  M.  Law.  The  case  of  the 
Housatonic,  which  was  carrying  foodstuffs  consigned 
to  a  London  firm,  was  essentially  like  the  case  of  the 
Frye,  in  which,  it  will  be  recalled,  the  German  Govern 
ment  admitted  its  liability  for  damages,  and  the  lives 
of  the  crew,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Frye,  were  safeguarded 
with  reasonable  care.  The  case  of  the  Law,  which  was 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  263 

carrying  lemon-box  staves  to  Palermo,  disclosed  a  ruth- 
lessness  of  method  which  deserves  grave  condemnation, 
but  was  accompanied  by  no  circumstances  which  might 
not  have  been  expected  at  any  time  in  connection  with 
the  use  of  the  submarine  against  merchantmen  as  the 
German  Government  has  used  it. 

In  sum,  therefore,  the  situation  we  find  ourselves  in 
with  regard  to  the  actual  conduct  of  the  German  sub 
marine  warfare  against  commerce  and  its  effects  upon 
our  own  ships  and  people  is  substantially  the  same  that 
it  was  when  I  addressed  you  on  the  third  of  February, 
except  for  the  tying  up  of  our  shipping  in  our  own 
ports  because  of  the  unwillingness  of  our  shipowners 
-to  risk  their  vessels  at  sea  without  insurance  or  adequate 
protection,  and  the  very  serious  congestion  of  our  com 
merce  which  has  resulted,  a  congestion  which  is  growing 
rapidly  more  and  more  serious  every  day.  This  in 
itself  might  presently  accomplish,  in  effect,  what  the 
new  German  submarine  orders  were  meant  to  accom 
plish,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned.  We  can  only  say, 
therefore,  that  the  overt  act  which  I  have  ventured  to 
hope  the  German  commanders  would  in  fact  avoid  has 
not  occurred. 

But,  while  this  is  happily  true,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  there  have  been  certain  additional  indications  and 
expressions  of  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  German  press 
and  the  German  authorities  which  have  increased  rather 
than  lessened  the  impression  that,  if  our  ships  and  our 
people  are  spared,  it  will  be  because  of  fortunate  cir 
cumstances  or  because  the  commanders  of  the  German 
submarines  which  they  may  happen  to  encounter  exer- 


264          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

else  an  unexpected  discretion  and  restraint  rather  than 
because  of  the  instructions  under  which  those  com 
manders  are  acting.  It  would  be  foolish  to  deny  that 
the  situation  is  fraught  with  the  gravest  possibilities 
and  dangers.  No  thoughtful  man  can  fail  to  see  that 
the  necessity  for  definite  action  may  come  at  any  time, 
if  we  are  in  fact,  and  not  in  word  merely,  to  defend 
our  elementary  rights  as  a  neutral  nation.  It  would  be 
most  imprudent  to  be  unprepared. 

I  cannot  in  such  circumstances  be  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  the  present  Con 
gress  is  immediately  at  hand,  by  constitutional  limita 
tion;  and  that  it  would  in  all  likelihood  require  an 
unusual  length  of  time  to  assemble  and  organize  the 
Congress  which  is  to  succeed  it.  I  feel  that  I  ought,  in 
view  of  that  fact,  to  obtain  from  you  full  and  immediate 
assurance  of  the  authority  which  I  may  need  at  any 
moment  to  exercise.  No  doubt  I  already  possess  that 
authority  without  special  warrant  of  law,  by  the  plain 
implication  of  my  constitutional  duties  and  powers ;  but 
I  prefer,  in  the  present  circumstances,  not  to  act  upon 
general  implication.  I  wish  to  feel  that  the  authority 
and  the  power  of  the  Congress  are  behind  me  in  what 
ever  it  may  become  necessary  for  me  to  do.  We  are 
jointly  the  servants  of  the  people  and  must  act  to 
gether  and  in  their  spirit,  so  far  as  we  can  divine  and 
interpret  it. 

No  one  doubts  what  it  is  our  duty  to  do.  We  must 
defend  our  commerce  and  the  lives  of  our  people  in  the 
midst  of  the  present  trying  circumstances,  with  discre 
tion  but  with  clear  and  steadfast  purpose.  Only  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  265 

method  and  the  extent  remain  to  be  chosen,  upon  the 
occasion,  if  occasion  should  indeed  arise.  Since  it  has 
unhappily  proved  impossible  to  safeguard  our  neutral 
rights  by  diplomatic  means  against  the  unwarranted 
infringements  they  are  suffering  at  the  hands  of  Ger 
many,  there  may  be  no  recourse  but  to  armed  neutrality, 
which  we  shall  know  how  to  maintain  and  for  which 
there  is  abundant  American  precedent. 

It  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  not  be  neces 
sary  to  put  armed  force  anywhere  into  action.  The 
American  people  do  not  desire  it,  and  our  desire  is  not 
different  from  theirs.  I  am  sure  that  they  will  under 
stand  the  spirit  in  which  I  am  now  acting,  the  purpose 
I  hold  nearest  my  heart  and  would  wish  to  exhibit  in 
everything  I  do.  I  am  anxious  that  the  people  of  the 
nations  at  war  also  should  understand  and  not  mistrust 
us.  I  hope  that  I  need  give  no  further  proofs  and  assur 
ances  than  I  have  already  given  throughout  nearly  three 
years  of  anxious  patience  that  I  am  the  friend  of  peace 
and  mean  to  preserve  it  for  America  so  long  as  I  am 
able.  I  am  not  now  proposing  or  contemplating  war  or 
any  steps  that  need  lead  to  it.  I  merely  request  that 
you  will  accord  me  by  your  own  vote  and  definite  be 
stowal  the  means  and  the  authority  to  safeguard  in 
practice  the  right  of  a  great  people  who  are  at  peace 
and  who  are  desirous  of  exercising  none  but  the  rights 
of  peace  to  follow  the  pursuits  of  peace  in  quietness 
and  good  will, — rights  recognized  time  out  of  mind  by 
all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world.  No  course  of  my 
choosing  or  of  theirs  will  lead  to  war.  War  can  come 
only  by  the  willful  acts  and  aggressions  of  others. 


266          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

You  will  understand  why  I  can  make  no  definite  pro 
posals  or  forecasts  of  action  now  and  must  ask  for  your 
supporting  authority  in  the  most  general  terms.  The 
form  in  which  action  may  become  necessary  cannot  yet 
be  foreseen.  I  believe  that  the  people  will  be  willing 
to  trust  me  to  act  with  restraint,  with  prudence,  and 
in  the  true  spirit  of  amity  and  good  faith  that  they  have 
themselves  displayed  throughout  these  trying  months; 
and  it  is  in  that  belief  that  I  request  that  you  will 
authorize  me  to  supply  our  merchant  ships  with  defen 
sive  arms,  should  that  become  necessary,  and  with  the 
means  of  using  them,  and  to  employ  any  other  instru 
mentalities  or  methods  that  may  be  necessary  and  ade 
quate  to  protect  our  ships  and  our  people  in  their 
legitimate  and  peaceful  pursuits  on  the  seas.  I  request 
also  that  you  will  grant  me  at  the  same  time,  along 
with  the  powers  I  ask,  a  sufficient  credit  to  enable  me 
to  provide  adequate  means  of  protection  where  they  are 
lacking,  including  adequate  insurance  against  the  pres 
ent  war  risks. 

I  have  spoken  of  our  commerce  and  of  the  legiti 
mate  errands  of  our  people  on  the  seas,  but  you  will 
not  be  misled  as  to  my  main  thought,  the  thought  that 
lies  beneath  these  phrases  and  gives  them  dignity  and 
weight.  It  is  not  of  material  interests  merely  that  we 
are  thinking.  It  is,  rather,  of  fundamental  human 
rights,  chief  of  all  the  right  of  life  itself.  I  am  think 
ing,  not  only  of  the  rights  of  Americans  to  go  and  come 
about  their  proper  business  by  way  of  the  sea,  but  also 
of  something  much  deeper,  much  more  fundamental 
than  that.  I  am  thinking  of  those  rights  of  humanity 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  267 

without  which  there  is  no  civilization.  My  theme  is  of 
those  great  principles  of  compassion  and  of  protection 
which  mankind  has  sought  to  throw  about  human  lives, 
the  lives  of  non-combatants,  the  lives  of  men  who  are 
peacefully  at  work  keeping  the  industrial  processes  of 
the  world  quick  and  vital,  the  lives  of  women  and  chil 
dren  and  of  those  who  supply  the  labor  which  ministers 
to  their  sustenance.  We  are  speaking  of  no  selfish 
material  rights  but  of  rights  which  our  hearts  support 
and  whose  foundation  is  that  righteous  passion  for  jus 
tice  upon  which  all  law,  all  structures  alike  of  family, 
of  state,  and  of  mankind  must  rest,  as  upon  the  ulti 
mate  base  of  our  existence  and  our  liberty.  I  cannot 
imagine  any  man  with  American  principles  at  his  heart 
hesitating  to  defend  these  things. 


SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS,  WASHING 
TON,  MARCH  5,  1917 

MY  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

The  four  years  which  have  elapsed  since  last  I  stood 
in  this  place  have  been  crowded  with  counsel  and  action 
of  the  most  vital  interest  and  consequence.  Perhaps  no 
equal  period  in  our  history  has  been  so  fruitful  of  im 
portant  reforms  in  our  economic  and  industrial  life  or 
so  full  of  significant  changes  in  the  spirit  and  purpose 
of  our  political  action.  We  have  sought  very  thought 
fully  to  set  our  house  in  order,  correct  the  grosser  errors 
and  abuses  of  our  industrial  life,  liberate  and  quicken 
the  processes  of  our  national  genius  and  energy,  and  lift 
our  politics  to  a  broader  view  of  the  people's  essential 
interests.  It  is  a  record  of  singular  variety  and  singu 
lar  distinction.  But  I  shall  not  attempt  to  review  it. 
It  speaks  for  itself  and  will  be  of  increasing  influence 
as  the  years  go  by.  This  is  not  the  time  for  retrospect. 
It  is  time,  rather,  to  speak  our  thoughts  and  purposes 
concerning  the  present  and  the  immediate  future. 

Although  we  have  centered  counsel  and  action  with 
such  unusual  concentration  and  success  upon  the  great 
problems  of  domestic  legislation  to  which  we  addressed 
ourselves  four  years  ago,  other  matters  have  more  and 
more  forced  themselves  upon  our  attention,  matters 
lying  outside  our  own  life  as  a  nation  and  over  which 
we  had  no  control,  but  which,  despite  our  wish  to  keep 

268 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  269 

free  of  them,  have  drawn  us  more  and  more  irresistibly 
into  their  own  current  and  influence. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  avoid  them.  They  have 
affected  the  life  of  the  whole  world.  They  have  shaken 
men  everywhere  with  a  passion  and  an  apprehension 
they  never  knew  before.  It  has  been  hard  to  preserve 
calm  counsel  while  the  thought  of  our  own  people  swayed 
this  way  and  that  under  their  influence.  We  are  a  com 
posite  and  cosmopolitan  people.  We  are  of  the  blood 
of  all  the  nations  that  are  at  war.  The  currents  of  our 
thoughts  as  well  as  the  currents  of  our  trade  run  quick 
at  all  seasons  back  and  forth  between  us  and  them. 
The  war  inevitably  set  its  mark  from  the  first  alike 
upon  our  minds,  our  industries,  our  commerce,  our 
politics,  and  our  social  action.  To  be  indifferent  to  it 
or  independent  of  it  was  out  of  the  question. 

And  yet  all  the  while  we  have  been  conscious  that 
we  were  not  part  of  it.  In  that  consciousness,  despite 
many  divisions,  we  have  drawn  closer  together.  We 
have  been  deeply  wronged  upon  the  seas,  but  we  have 
not  wished  to  wrong  or  injure  in  return;  have  retained 
throughout  the  consciousness  of  standing  in  some  sort 
apart,  intent  upon  an  interest  that  transcended  the 
immediate  issues  of  the  war  itself.  As  some  of  the 
injuries  done  us  have  become  intolerable  we  have  still 
been  clear  that  we  wished  nothing  for  ourselves  that 
we  were  not  ready  to  demand  for  all  mankind, — fair 
dealing,  justice,  the  freedom  to  live  and  be  at  ease 
against  organized  wrong. 

It  is  in  this  spirit  and  with  this  thought  that  we 
have  grown  more  and  more  aware,  more  and  more  cer- 


270          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

tain  that  the  part  we  wished  to  play  was  the  part  of 
those  who  mean  to  vindicate  and  fortify  peace.  We 
have  been  obliged  to  arm  ourselves  to  make  good  our 
claim  to  a  certain  minimum  of  right  and  of  freedom 
of  action.  We  stand  firm  in  armed  neutrality  since  it 
seems  that  in  no  other  way  we  can  demonstrate  what 
it  is  we  insist  upon  and  cannot  forego.  We  may  even 
be  drawn  on,  by  circumstances,  not  by  our  own  purpose 
or  desire,  to  a  more  active  assertion  of  our  rights  as 
we  see  them  and  a  more  immediate  association  with 
the  great  struggle  itself.  But  nothing  will  alter  our 
thought  or  our  purpose.  They  are  too  clear  to  be 
obscured.  They  are  too  deeply  rooted  in  the  principles 
of  our  national  life  to  be  altered.  We  desire  neither 
conquest  nor  advantage.  We  wish  nothing  that  can  be 
had  only  at  the  cost  of  another  people.  We  have  always 
professed  unselfish  purpose  and  we  covet  the  opportunity 
to  prove  that  our  professions  are  sincere. 

There  are  many  things  still  to  do  at  home,  to  clarify 
our  own  politics  and  give  new  vitality  to  the  industrial 
processes  of  our  own  life,  and  we  shall  do  them  as  time 
and  opportunity  serve;  but  we  realize  that  the  greatest 
things  that  remain  to  be  done  must  be  done  with  the 
whole  world  for  stage  and  in  co-operation  with  the  wide 
and  universal  forces  of  mankind,  and  we  are  making 
our  spirits  ready  for  those  things.  They  will  follow  in 
the  immediate  wake  of  the  war  itself  and  will  set  civili 
zation  up  again.  We  are  provincials  no  longer.  The 
tragical  events  of  the  thirty  months  of  vital  turmoil 
through  which  we  have  just  passed  have  made  us  citi 
zens  of  the  world.  There  can  be  no  turning  back.  Our 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  271 

own  fortunes  as  a  nation  are  involved,  whether  we  would 
have  it  so  or  not. 

And  yet  we  are  not  the  less  Americans  on  that 
account.  We  shall  be  the  more  American  if  we  but 
remain  true  to  the  principles  in  which  we  have  been 
bred.  They  are  not  the  principles  of  a  province  or  of 
a  single  continent.  We  have  known  and  boasted  all 
along  that  they  were  the  principles  of  a  liberated  man 
kind.  These,  therefore,  are  the  things  we  shall  stand 
for,  whether  in  war  or  in  peace: 

That  all  nations  are  equally  interested  in  the  peace 
of  the  world  and  in  the  political  stability  of  free  peo 
ples,  and  equally  responsible  for  their  maintenance; 

That  the  essential  principle  of  peace  is  the  actual 
equality  of  nations  in  all  matters  of  right  or  privilege; 

That  peace  cannot  securely  or  justly  rest  upon  an 
armed  balance  of  power; 

That  ^governments  derive  all  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed  and  that  no  other  powers 
should  be  supported  by  the  common  thought,  purpose, 
or  power  of  the  family  of  nations. 

That  the  seas  should  be  equally  free  and  safe  for 
the  use  of  all  peoples,  under  rules  set  up  by  common 
agreement  and  consent,  and  that,  so  far  as  practicable, 
they  should  be  accessible  to  all  upon  equal  terms; 

That  national  armaments  should  be  limited  to  the 
necessities  of  national  order  and  domestic  safety; 

That  the  community  of  interest  and  of  power  upon 
which  peace  must  henceforth  depend  imposes  upon  each 
nation  the  duty  of  seeing  to  it  that  all  influences  pro 
ceeding  from  its  own  citizens  meant  to  encourage  or 


272          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

assist  revolution  in  other  states  should  be  sternly  and 
effectually  suppressed  and  prevented. 

I  need  not  argue  these  principles  to  you,  my  fellow 
countrymen:  they  are  your  own,  part  and  parcel  of 
your  own  thinking  and  your  own  motive  in  affairs. 
They  spring  up  native  amongst  us.  Upon  this  as  a 
platform  of  purpose  and  of  action  we  can  stand  together. 

And  it  is  imperative  that  we  should  stand  together. 
We  are  being  forged  into  a  new  unity  amidst  the  fires 
that  now  blaze  throughout  the  world.  In  their  ardent 
heat  we  shall,  in  God's  providence,  let  us  hope,  be 
purged  of  faction  and  division,  purified  of  the  errant 
humors  of  party  and  of  private  interest,  and  shall  stand 
forth  in  the  days  to  come  with  a  new  dignity  of  national 
pride  and  spirit.  Let  each  man  see  to  it  that  the  dedi 
cation  is  in  his  own  heart,  the  high  purpose  of  the 
Nation  in  his  own  mind,  ruler  of  his  own  will  and  desire. 

I  stand  here  and  have  taken  the  high  and  solemn 
oath  to  which  you  have  been  audience  because  the  peo 
ple  of  the  United  States  have  chosen  me  for  this  august 
delegation  of  power  and  have  by  their  gracious  judg 
ment  named  me  their  leader  in  affairs.  I  know  now 
what  the  task  means.  I  realize  to  the  full  the  responsi 
bility  which  it  involves.  I  pray  God  I  may  be  given  the 
wisdom  and  the  prudence  to  do  my  duty  in  the  true 
spirit  of  this  great  people.  I  am  their  servant  and  can 
succeed  only  as  they  sustain  and  guide  me  by  their  con 
fidence  and  their  counsel.  The  thing  I  shall  count  upon, 
the  thing  without  which  neither  counsel  nor  action  will 
avail,  is  the  unity  of  America, — an  America  united  in 
feeling,  in  purpose,  and  in  its  vision  of  duty,  of  oppor- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  273 

tunity,  and  of  service.  We  are  to  beware  of  all  men 
who  would  turn  the  tasks  and  the  necessities  of  the 
Nation  to  their  own  private  profit  or  use  them  for  the 
building  up  of  private  power;  beware  that  no  faction 
or  disloyal  intrigue  break  the  harmony  or  embarrass  the 
spirit  of  our  people;  beware  that  our  Government  be 
kept  pure  and  incorrupt  in  all  its  parts.  United  alike 
in  the  conception  of  our  duty  and  in  the  high  resolve 
to  perform  it  in  the  face  of  all  men,  let  us  dedicate  our 
selves  to  the  great  task  to  which  we  must  now  set  our 
hand.  For  myself  I  beg  your  tolerance,  your  counte 
nance,  and  your  united  aid.  The  shadows  that  now  He 
dark  upon  our  path  will  soon  be  dispelled  and  we  shall 
walk  with  the  light  all  about  us  if  we  be  but  true  to 
ourselves, — to  ourselves  as  we  have  wished  to  be  known 
in  the  counsels  of  the  world  and  in  the  thought  of  all 
those  who  love  liberty  and  justice  and  the  right  exalted. 


ADDRESS  RECOMMENDING  THE  DECLARA 
TION  OF  A  STATE  OF  WAR  BETWEEN 
THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  IM 
PERIAL  GERMAN  GOVERNMENT, 
DELIVERED  AT  A  JOINT  SES 
SION  OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES 
OF  CONGRESS,  APRIL 
2,  1917 

In  the  interval  between  February  26th  and  April  2d,  the  President  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  neutrality  was  incompatible  with  the  undoubted  rights, 
and  therefore  the  best  interests,  of  the  United  States.  Germany  had  already 
drawn  the  sword  and  was  in  a  state  of  war,  although  not  declared,  with  the 
United  States.  President  Wilson  decided  that  this  situation  should  be  regular 
ized  by  a  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  that  a  state  of  war 
existed  between  the  Imperial  German  Government  and  the  United  States.  He 
therefore  recommended  such  action  in  his  address  of  April  2d,  and  on  the  6th 
instant  the  Congress  passed  the  following  joint  resolution,  carrying  into  effect 
his  recommendation: 

"  Whereas  the  Imperial  German  Government  has  committed  repeated 
acts  of  war  against  the  Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States  of 
America:  Therefore  be  it 

"  Resolved  Ity  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  state  of  war  between 
the  United  States  and  the  Imperial  Government  which  has  thus  been  thrust 
upon  the  United  States  is  hereby  formally  declared;  and  that  the  President 
be,  and  he  is  hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to  employ  the  entire  naval  and 
military  forces  of  the  United  States  and  the  resources  of  the  Government  to 
carry  on  war  against  the  Imperial  German  Government;  and  to  bring  the 
conflict  to  a  successful  termination  all  of  the  resources  of  the  country  are 
hereby  pledged  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States." 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS  : 

I  have  called  the  Congress  into  extraordinary  session 
because  there  are  serious,  very  serious,  choices  of  policy 
to  be  made,  and  made  immediately,  which  it  was  neither 
right  nor  constitutionally  permissible  that  I  should 
assume  the  responsibility  of  making. 

274 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  275 

On  the  third  of  February  last  I  officially  laid  before 
you  the  extraordinary  announcement  of  the  Imperial 
German  Government  that  on  and  after  the  first  day  of 
February  it  was  its  purpose  to  put  aside  all  restraints 
of  law  or  of  humanity  and  use  its  submarines  to  sink 
every  vessel  that  sought  to  approach  either  the  ports  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  or  the  western  coasts  of 
Europe  or  any  of  the  ports  controlled  by  the  enemies 
of  Germany  within  the  Mediterranean.  That  had  seemed 
to  be  the  object  of  the  German  submarine  warfare 
earlier  in  the  war,  but  since  April  of  last  year  the 
Imperial  Government  had  somewhat  restrained  the  com 
manders  of  its  undersea  craft  in  conformity  with  its 
promise  then  given  to  us  that  passenger  boats  should 
not  be  sunk  and  that  due  warning  would  be  given  to 
all  other  vessels  which  its  submarines  might  seek  to 
destroy,  when  no  resistance  was  offered  or  escape 
attempted,  and  care  taken  that  their  crews  were  given 
at  least  a  fair  chance  to  save  their  lives  in  their  open 
boats.  The  precautions  taken  were  meager  and  hap 
hazard  enough,  as  was  proved  in  distressing  instance 
after  instance  in  the  progress  of  the  cruel  and  unmanly 
business,  but  a  certain  degree  of  restraint  was  observed. 
The  new  policy  has  swept  every  restriction  aside.  Ves 
sels  of  every  kind,  whatever  their  flag,  their  character, 
their  cargo,  their  destination,  their  errand,  have  been 
ruthlessly  sent  to  the  bottom  without  warning  and  with 
out  thought  of  help  or  mercy  for  those  on  board,  the 
vessels  of  friendly  neutrals  along  with  those  of  belliger 
ents.  Even  hospital  ships  and  ships  carrying  relief  to 
the  sorely  bereaved  and  stricken  people  of  Belgium, 


276          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

though  the  latter  were  provided  with  safe  conduct 
through  the  proscribed  areas  by  the  German  Govern 
ment  itself  and  were  distinguished  by  unmistakable 
marks  of  identity,  have  been  sunk  with  the  same  reck 
less  lack  of  compassion  or  of  principle. 

I  was  for  a  little  while  unable  to  believe  that  such 
things  would  in  fact  be  done  by  any  government  that 
had  hitherto  subscribed  to  the  humane  practices  of 
civilized  nations.  International  law  had  its  origin  in 
the  attempt  to  set  up  some  law  which  would  be  respected 
and  observed  upon  the  seas,  where  no  nation  had  right 
of  dominion  and  where  lay  the  free  highways  of  the 
world.  By  painful  stage  after  stage  has  that  law  been 
built  up,  with  meager  enough  results,  indeed,  after  all 
was  accomplished  that  could  be  accomplished,  but  always 
with  a  clear  view,  at  least,  of  what  the  heart  and  con 
science  of  mankind  demanded.  This  minimum  -of  right 
the  German  Government  has  swept  aside  under  the 
plea  of  retaliation  and  necessity  and  because  it  had  no 
weapons  which  it  could  use  at  sea  except  these  which 
it  is  impossible  to  employ  as  it  is  employing  them  with 
out  throwing  to  the  winds  all  scruples  of  humanity  or 
of  respect  for  the  understandings  that  were  supposed 
to  underlie  the  intercourse  of  the  world.  I  am  not  now 
thinking  of  the  loss  of  property  involved,  immense  and 
serious  as  that  is,  but  only  of  the  wanton  and  wholesale 
destruction  of  the  lives  of  non-combatants,  men,  women, 
and  children,  engaged  in  pursuits  which  have  always, 
even  in  the  darkest  periods  of  modern  history,  been 
deemed  innocent  and  legitimate.  |  Property  can  be  paid 
i  for ;  the  lives  of  peaceful  and  innocent  people  cannot  be. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  277 

The  present  German  submarine  warfare  against  com 
merce  is  a  warfare  against  mankind. 

It  is  a  war  against  all  nations.  American  ships  have 
been  sunk,  American  lives  taken,  in  ways  which  it  has 
stirred  us  very  deeply  to  learn  of,  but  the  ships  and 
people  of  other  neutral  and  friendly  nations  have  been 
sunk  and  overwhelmed  in  the  waters  in  the  same  way. 
There  has  been  no  discrimination.  The  challenge  is  to 
all  mankind.  Each  nation  must  decide  for  itself  how 
it  will  meet  it.  The  choice  we  make  for  ourselves  must 
be  made  with  a  moderation  of  counsel  and  a  temperate- 
ness  of  judgment  befitting  our  character  and  our  motives 
as  a  nation.  We  must  put  excited  feeling  away.  Our 
motive  will  not  be  revenge  or  the  victorious  assertion 
of  the  physical  might  of  the  nation,  but  only  the  vindi 
cation  of  right,  of  human  right,  of  which  we  are  only 
a  single  champion. 

When  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  twenty-sixth 
of  February  last  I  thought  that  it  would  suffice  to  assert 
our  neutral  rights  with  arms,  our  right  to  use  the  seas 
against  unlawful  interference,  our  right  to  keep  our 
people  safe  against  unlawful  violence.  But  armed  neu-  - 
trality,  it  now  appears,  is  impracticable.  Because  sub 
marines  are  in  effect  outlaws  when  used  as  the  German 
submarines  have  been  used  against  merchant  shipping, 
it  is  impossible  to  defend  ships  against  their  attacks 
as  the  law  of  nations  has  assumed  that  merchantmen 
would  defend  themselves  against  privateers  or  cruisers, 
visible  craft  giving  chase  upon  the  open  sea.  It  is  com 
mon  prudence  in  such  circumstances,  grim  necessity 
indeed,  to  endeavor  to  destroy  them  before  they  have 


278          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

shown  their  own  intention.  They  must  be  dealt  with 
upon  sight,  if  dealt  with  at  all.  The  German  Govern 
ment  denies  the  right  of  neutrals  to  use  arms  at  ail 
within  the  areas  of  the  sea  which  it  has  proscribed,  even 
in  the  defense  of  rights  which  no  modern  publicist  has 
ever  before  questioned  their  right  to  defend.  The  inti 
mation  is  conveyed  that  the  armed  guards  which  we 
have  placed  on  our  merchant  ships  will  be  treated  as 
beyond  the  pale  of  law  and  subject  to  be  dealt  with  as 
pirates  would  be.  Armed  neutrality  is  ineffectual 
enough  at  best;  in  such  circumstances  and  in  the  face 
of  such  pretensions  it  is  worse  than  ineffectual:  it  is 
likely  only  to  produce  what  it  was  meant  to  prevent; 
it  is  practically  certain  to  draw  us  into  the  war  with 
out  either  the  rights  or  the  effectiveness  of  belligerents. 
There  is  one  choice  we  cannot  make,  we  are  incapable 
of  making:  we  will  not  choose  the  path  of  submission 
and  suffer  the  most  sacred  rights  of  our  nation  and  our 
people  to  be  ignored  or  violated.  The  wrongs  against 
which  we  now  array  ourselves  are  no  common  wrongs; 
they  cut  to  the  very  roots  of  human  life. 

With  a  profound  sense  of  the  solemn  and  even  tragi 
cal  character  of  the  step  I  am  taking  and  of  the  grave 
responsibilities  which  it  involves,  but  in  unhesitating 
obedience  to  what  I  deem  my  constitutional  duty,  I 
advise  that  the  Congress  declare  the  recent  course  of 
the  Imperial  German  Government  to  be  in  fact  nothing 
less  than  war  against  the  government  and  people  of  the 
United  States;  that  it  formally  accept  the  status  of 
belligerent  which  has  thus  been  thrust  upon  it ;  and  that 
it  take  immediate  steps  not  only  to  put  the  country  in 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  279 

a  more  thorough  state  of  defense  but  also  to  exert  all  its 
power  and  employ  all  its  resources  to  bring  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  German  Empire  to  terms  and  end  the 
war. 

What  this  will  involve  is  clear.  It  will  involve  the 
utmost  practicable  co-operation  in  counsel  and  action 
with  the  governments  now  at  war  with  Germany,  and, 
as  incident  to  that,  the  extension  to  those  governments 
of  the  most  liberal  financial  credits,  in  order  that  our 
resources  may  so  far  as  possible  be  added  to  theirs.  It 
will  involve  the  organization  and  mobilization  of  all  the 
material  resources  of  the  country  to  supply  the  mate 
rials  of  war  and  serve  the  incidental  needs  of  the  nation 
in  the  most  abundant  and  yet  the  most  economical  and 
efficient  way  possible.  It  will  involve  the  immediate 
full  equipment  of  the  navy  in  all  respects  but  particu 
larly  in  supplying  it  with  the  best  means  of  dealing  with 
the  enemy's  submarines.  It  will  involve  the  immediate 
addition  to  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States 
already  provided  for  by  law  in  case  of  war  at  least 
five  hundred  thousand  men,  who  should,  in  my  opinion, 
be  chosen  upon  the  principle  of  universal  liability  to 
service,  and  also  the  authorization  of  subsequent  addi 
tional  increments  of  equal  force  so  soon  as  they  may  be 
needed  and  can  be  handled  in  training.  It  will  involve 
also,  of  course,  the  granting  of  adequate  credits  to  the 
Government,  sustained,  I  hope,  so  far  as  they  can  equi 
tably  be  sustained  by  the  present  generation,  by  well 
conceived  taxation. 

I  say  sustained  so  far  as  may  be  equitable  by  taxa 
tion  because  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  most  un- 


280          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

wise  to  base  the  credits  which  will  now  be  necessary 
entirely  on  money  borrowed.  It  is  our  duty,  I  most 
respectfully  urge,  to  protect  our  people  so  far  as  we 
may  against  the  very  serious  hardships  and  evils  which 
would  be  likely  to  arise  out  of  the  inflation  which  would 
be  produced  by  vast  loans. 

In  carrying  out  the  measures  by  which  these  things 
are  to  be  accomplished  we  should  keep  constantly  in 
mind  the  wisdom  of  interfering  as  little  as  possible  in 
our  own  preparation  and  in  the  equipment  of  our  own 
military  forces  with  the  duty, — for  it  will  be  a  very 
practical  duty, — of  supplying  the  nations  already  at 
war  with  Germany  with  the  materials  which  they  can 
obtain  only  from  us  or  by  our  assistance.  They  are 
in  the  field  and  we  should  help  them  in  every  way  to 
be  effective  there. 

I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting,  through  the 
several  executive  departments  of  the  Government,  for 
the  consideration  of  your  committees,  measures  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  several  objects  I  have  men 
tioned.  I  hope  that  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to  deal 
with  them  as  having  been  framed  after  very  careful 
thought  by  the  branch  of  the  Government  upon  which 
the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  war  and  safeguard 
ing  the  nation  will  most  directly  fall. 

While  we  do  these  things,  these  deeply  momentous 
things,  let  us  be  very  clear,  and  make  very  clear  to  all 
the  world  what  our  motives  and  our  objects  are.  My 
own  thought  has  not  been  driven  from  its  habitual  and 
normal  course  by  the  unhappy  events  of  the  last  two 
months,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  thought  of  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  281 

nation  has  been  altered  or  clouded  by  them.  I  have 
exactly  the  same  things  in  mind  now  that  I  had  in 
mind  when  I  addressed  the  Senate  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  January  last;  the  same  that  I  had  in 
mind  when  I  addressed  the  Congress  on  the  third 
of  February  and  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  February. 
Our  object  now,  as  then,  is  to  vindicate  the  prin-  , 
ciples  of  peace  and  justice  in  the  life  of  the  world 
as  against  selfish  and  autocratic  power  and  to  set  up 
amongst  the  really  free  and  self-governed  peoples  of 
the  world  such  a  concert  of  purpose  and  of  action  as 
will  henceforth  insure  the  observance  of  those  prin 
ciples.  Neutrality  is  no  longer  feasible  or  desirable 
where  the  peace  of  the  world  is  involved  and  the  free 
dom  of  its  peoples,  and  the  menace  to  that  peace  and 
freedom  lies  in  the  existence  of  autocratic  governments 
backed  by  organized  force  which  is  controlled  wholly  by 
their  will,  not  by  the  will  of  their  people.  We  have 
seen  the  last  of  neutrality  in  such  circumstances.  We 
are  at  the  beginning  of  an  age  in  which  it  will  be 
insisted  that  the  same  standards  of  conduct  and  of 
responsibility  for  wrong  done  shall  be  observed  among 
nations  and  their  governments  that  are  observed  among 
the  individual  citizens  of  civilized  states. 

We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  German  people.  >  We 
have  no  feeling  towards  them  but  one  of  sympathy  and 
friendship.  It  was  not  upon  their  impulse  that  their 
government  acted  in  entering  this  war.  It  was  not 
with  their  previous  knowledge  or  approval.  It  was  a 
war  determined  upon  as  wars  used  to  be  determined 
upon  in  the  old,  unhappy  days  when  peoples  were  no- 


282 

where  consulted  by  their  rulers  and  wars  were  provoked 
and  waged  in  the  interest  of  dynasties  or  of  little  groups 
of  ambitious  men  who  were  accustomed  to  use  their 
fellow-men  as  pawns  and  tools.  Self -governed  nations 
do  not  fill  their  neighbor  states  wrm  spies  or  set  the 
course  of  intrigue  to  bring  about  some  critical  posture 
of  affairs  which  will  give  them  an  opportunity  to  strike 
and  make  conquest.  Such  designs  can  be  successfully 
worked  out  only  under  cover  and  where  no  one  has  the 
right  to  ask  questions.  Cunningly  contrived  plans  of 
deception  or  aggression,  carried,  it  may  be,  from  gener 
ation  to  generation,  can  be  worked  out  and  kept  from 
the  light  only  within  the  privacy  of  courts  or  behind 
the  carefully  guarded  confidences  of  a  narrow  and 
privileged  class.  They  are  happily  impossible  where 
public  opinion  commands  and  insists  upon  full  informa 
tion  concerning  all  the  nation's  affairs. 

r"""" — r- 

f  A  steadfast  concert  for  peace  can  never  be  main 
tained  except  by  a  partnership  of  democratic  nations. 
No  autocratic  government  could  be  trusted  to  keep 

faith  within  it  or  observe  its  covenants.    It  must  be  a 

L— 

league  of  honor,  a  partnership  of  opinion.  Intrigue 
would  eat  its  vitals  away;  the  plottings  of  inner  circles 
who  could  plan  what  they  would  and  render  account  to 
no  one  would  be  a  corruption  seated  at  its  very  heart. 
Only  free  peoples  can  hold  their  purpose  and  their 
honor  steady  to  a  common  end  and  prefer  the  interests 
of  mankind  to  any  narrow  interest  of  their  own. 

Does  not  every  American  feel  that  assurance  has  been 
added  to  our  hope  for  the  future  peace  of  the  world 
by  the  wonderful  and  heartening  things  that  have  been 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  283 

happening  within  the  last  few  weeks  in  Russia  ?  Russia 
was  known  by  those  who  knew  it  best  to  have  been 
always  in  fact  democratic  at  heart,  in  all  the  vital  habits 
of  her  thought,  in  all  the  intimate  relationships  of  her 
people  that  spoke  their  natural  instinct,  their  habitual 
attitude  towards  life.  The  autocracy  that  crowned  the 
summit  of  her  political  structure,  long  as  it  had  stood 
and  terrible  as  was  the  reality  of  its  power,  was  not 
in  fact  Russian  in  origin,  character,  or  purpose;  and 
now  it  has  been  shaken  off  and  the  great,  generous 
Russian  people  have  been  added  in  all  their  naive 
majesty  and  might  to  the  forces  that  are  fighting  for 
freedom  in  the  world,  for  justice,  and  for  peace.  Here 
is  a  fit  partner  for  a  League  of  Honor. 

One  of  the  things  that  has  served  to  convince  us  that 
the  Prussian  autocracy  was  not  and  could  never  be 
our  friend  is  that  from  the  very  outset  of  the  present 
war  it  has  filled  our  unsuspecting  communities  and  even 
our  offices  of  government  with  spies  and  set  criminal 
intrigues  everywhere  afoot  against  our  national  unity 
of  counsel,  our  peace  within  and  without,  our  industries 
and  our  commerce.  Indeed  it  is  now  evident  that  its 
spies  were  here  even  before  the  war  began;  and  it  is 
unhappily  not  a  matter  of  conjecture  but  a  fact  proved 
in  our  courts  of  justice  that  the  intrigues  which  have 
more  than  once  come  perilously  near  to  disturbing  the 
peace  and  dislocating  the  industries  of  the  country  have 
been  carried  on  at  the  instigation,  with  the  support,  and 
even  under  the  personal  direction  of  official  agents  of 
the  Imperial  Government  accredited  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States.  Even  in  checking  these  things 


284          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  trying  to  extirpate  them  we  have  sought  to  put 
the  most  generous  interpretation  possible  upon  them 
because  we  knew  that  their  source  lay,  not  in  any  hos 
tile  feeling  or  purpose  of  the  German  people  towards 
us  (who  were,  no  doubt,  as  ignorant  of  them  as  we 
ourselves  were),  but  only  in  the  selfish  designs  of  a 
Government  that  did  what  it  pleased  and  told  its  people 
nothing.  But  they  have  played  their  part  in  serving 
to  convince  us  at  last  that  that  Government  entertains 
no  real  friendship  for  us  and  means  to  act  against  our 
peace  and  security  at  its  convenience.  That  it  means 
to  stir  up  enemies  against  us  at  our  very  doors  the  inter 
cepted  note  to  the  German  Minister  at  Mexico  City  is 
eloquent  evidence. 

We  are  accepting  this  challenge  of  hostile  purpose 
because  we  know  that  in  such  a  government,  following 
such  methods,  we  can  never  have  a  friend;  and  that 
in  the  presence  of  its  organized  power,  always  lying  in 
wait  to  accomplish  we  know  not  what  purpose,  there 
can  be  no  assured  security  for  the  democratic  govern 
ments  of  the  world.  We  are  now  about  to  accept  gauge 
of  battle  with  this  natural  foe  to  liberty  and  shall,  if 
necessary,  spend  the  whole  force  of  the  nation  to  check 
and  nullify  its  pretensions  and  its  power.  We  are  glad, 
now  that  we  see  the  facts  with  no  veil  of  false  pretense 
about  them,  to  fight  thus  for  the  ultimate  peace  of  the 
world  and  for  the  liberation  of  its  peoples,  the  German 
peoples  included:  for  the  rights  of  nations  great  and 
small  and  the  privilege  of  men  everywhere  to  choose 
their  way  of  life  and  of  obedience.  The  world  must  be 
made  safe  for  democracy.  Its  peace  must  be  planted 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  285 

upon  the  tested  foundations  of  political  liberty.  We 
have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no  conquest, 
no  dominion.  We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves, 
no  material  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  we  shall 
freely  make.  We  are  but  one  of  the  champions  of  the 
rights  of  mankind.  We  shall  be  satisfied  when  those 
rights  have  been  made  as  secure  as  the  faith  and  the 
freedom  of  nations  can  make  them. 

Just  because  we  fight  without  rancor  and  without 
selfish  object,  seeking  nothing  for  ourselves  but  what 
we  shall  wish  to  share  with  all  free  peoples,  we  shall,  I 
feel  confident,  conduct  our  operations  as  belligerents 
without  passion  and  ourselves  observe  with  proud  punc 
tilio  the  principles  of  right  and  of  fair  play  we  profess 
to  be  fighting  for. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  the  governments  allied  with 
the  Imperial  Government  of  Germany  because  they  have 
not  made  war  upon  us  or  challenged  us  to  defend  our 
right  and  our  honor.  The  Austro-Hungarian  Govern 
ment  has,  indeed,  avowed  its  unqualified  indorsement 
and  acceptance  of  the  reckless  and  lawless  submarine 
warfare  adopted  now  without  disguise  by  the  Imperial 
German  Government,  and  it  has  therefore  not  been  pos 
sible  for  this  Government  to  receive  Count  Tarnowski, 
the  Ambassador  recently  accredited  to  this  Government 
by  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Government  of  Austria- 
Hungary;  but  that  Government  has  not  actually  en 
gaged  in  warfare  against  citizens  of  the  United  States 
on  the  seas,  and  I  take  the  liberty,  for  the  present  at 
least,  of  postponing  a  discussion  of  our  relations  with 
the  authorities  at  Vienna.  We  enter  this  war  only 


286          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

where  we  are  clearly  forced  into  it  because  there  are 
no  other  means  of  defending  our  rights. 

It  will  be  all  the  easier  for  us  to  conduct  ourselves 
as  belligerents  in  a  high  spirit  of  right  and  fairness 
because  we  act  without  animus,  not  in  enmity  towards 
a  people  or  with  the  desire  to  bring  any  injury  or 
disadvantage  upon  them,  but  only  in  armed  opposition 
to  an  irresponsible  government  which  has  thrown  aside 
all  considerations  of  humanity  and  of  right  and  is  run 
ning  amuck.  We  are,  let  me  say  again,  the  sincere 
friends  of  the  German  people,  and  shall  desire  nothing 
so  much  as  the  early  re-establishment  of  intimate  rela 
tions  of  mutual  advantage  between  us, — however  hard 
it  may  be  for  them,  for  the  time  being,  to  believe  that 
this  is  spoken  from  our  hearts.  We  have  borne  with 
their  present  government  through  all  these  bitter  months 
because  of  that  friendship, — exercising  a  patience  and 
forbearance  which  would  otherwise  have  been  impos 
sible.  We  shall,  happily,  still  have  an  opportunity  to 
prove  that  friendship  in  our  daily  attitude  and  actions 
towards  the  millions  of  men  and  women  of  German  birth 
and  native  sympathy  who  live  amongst  us  and  share 
our  life,  and  we  shall  be  proud  to  prove  it  towards  all 
who  are  in  fact  loyal  to  their  neighbors  and  to  the  Gov 
ernment  in  the  hour  of  test.  They  are,  most  of  them, 
as  true  and  loyal  Americans  as  if  they  had  never  known 
any  other  fealty  or  allegiance.  They  will  be  prompt  to 
stand  with  us  in  rebuking  and  restraining  the  few  who 
may  be  of  a  different  mind  and  purpose.  If  there 
should  be  disloyalty,  it  will  be  dealt  with  with  a  firm 
hand  of  stern  repression;  but,  if  it  lifts  its  head  at  all, 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  287 

it  will  lift  it  only  here  and  there  and  without  counte 
nance  except  from  a  lawless  and  malignant  few. 

It  is  a  distressing  and  oppressive  duty,  Gentlemen 
of  the  Congress,  which  I  have  performed  in  thus 
addressing  you.  There  are,  it  may  be,  many  months 
of  fiery  trial  and  sacrifice  ahead  of  us.  It  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  lead  this  great  peaceful  people  into  war,  into 
the  most  terrible  and  disastrous  of  all  wars,  civilization 
itself  seeming  to  be  in  the  balance.  But  the  right  is 
more  precious  than  peace,  and  we  shall  fight  for  the 
things  which  we  have  always  carried  nearest  our 
hearts, — for  democracy,  for  the  right  of  those  who 
submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in  their  own  govern 
ments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations,  for 
a  universal  dominion  of  right  by  such  a  concert  of 
free  peoples  as  shall  bring  peace  and  safety  to  all  nations 
and  make  the  world  itself  at  last  free.  To  such  a  task 
we  can  dedicate  our  lives  and  our  fortunes,  everything 
that  we  are  and  everything  that  we  have,  with  the  pride 
of  those  who  know  that  the  day  has  come  when  America 
is  privileged  to  spend  her  blood  and  her  might  for  the 
principles  that  gave  her  birth  and  happiness  and  the 
peace  which  she  has  treasured.  God  helping  her,  she 
can  do  no  other. 


ADDRESS     TO    HIS   FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN, 
CONCERNING  THE  WAR  WITH  GER 
MANY,  APRIL  15,  1917 

MY  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN  : 

The  entrance  of  our  own  beloved  country  into  the 
grim  and  terrible  war  for  democracy  and  human  rights 
which  has  shaken  the  world  creates  so  many  problems 
of  national  life  and  action  which  call  for  immediate 
consideration  and  settlement  that  I  hope  you  will  per 
mit  me  to  address  to  you  a  few  words  of  earnest  coun 
sel  and  appeal  with  regard  to  them. 

We  are  rapidly  putting  our  navy  upon  an  effective 
war  footing  and  are  about  to  create  and  equip  a  great 
army,  but  these  are  the  simplest  parts  of  the  great  task 
to  which  we  have  addressed  ourselves.  There  is  not  a 
single  selfish  element,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  in  the  cause 
we  are  fighting  for.  We  are  fighting  for  what  we 
believe  and  wish  to  be  the  rights  of  mankind  and  for 
the  future  peace  and  security  of  the  world.  To  do  this 
great  thing  worthily  and  successfully  we  must  devote 
ourselves  to  the  service  without  regard  to  profit  or 
material  advantage  and  with  an  energy  and  intelligence 
that  will  rise  to  the  level  of  the  enterprise  itself.  We 
must  realize  to  the  full  how  great  the  task  is  and  how 
many  things,  how  many  kinds  and  elements  of  capacity 
and  service  and  self-sacrifice,  it  involves. 

283 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  289 

These,  then,  are  the  things  we  must  do,  and  do  well, 
besides  fighting, — the  things  without  which  mere  fight 
ing  would  be  fruitless: 

We  must  supply  abundant  food  for  ourselves  and 
for  our  armies  and  our  seamen  not  only,  but  also  for 
a  large  part  of  the  nations  with  whom  we  have  now 
made  common  cause,  in  whose  support  and  by  whose 
sides  we  shall  be  fighting; 

We  must  supply  ships  by  the  hundreds  out  of  our 
shipyards  to  carry  to  the  other  side  of  the  sea,  sub 
marines  or  no  submarines,  what  will  every  day  be  needed 
there,  and  abundant  materials  out  of  our  fields  and  our 
mines  and  our  factories  with  which  not  only  to  clothe 
and  equip  our  own  forces  on  land  and  sea  but  also  to 
clothe  and  support  our  people  for  whom  the  gallant 
fellows  under  arms  can  no  longer  work,  to  help  clothe 
and  equip  the  armies  with  which  we  are  co-operating  in 
Europe,  and  to  keep  the  looms  and  manufactories  there 
in  raw  material;  coal  to  keep  the  fires  going  in  ships 
at  sea  and  in  the  furnaces  of  hundreds  of  factories 
across  the  sea;  steel  out  of  which  to  make  arms  and 
ammunition  both  here  and  there;  rails  for  worn-out 
railways  back  of  the  fighting  fronts;  locomotives  and 
rolling  stock  to  take  the  place  of  those  every  day  going 
to  pieces;  mules,  horses,  cattle  for  labor  and  for  mili 
tary  service;  everything  with  which  the  people  of  Eng 
land  and  France  and  Italy  and  Russia  have  usually 
supplied  themselves  but  cannot  now  afford  the  men, 
the  materials,  or  the  machinery  to  make. 

It  is  evident  to  every  thinking  man  that  our  indus 
tries,  on  the  farms,  in  the  shipyards,  in  the  mines,  in 


290          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  factories,  must  be  made  more  prolific  and  more 
efficient  than  ever  and  that  they  must  be  more  eco 
nomically  managed  and  better  adapted  to  the  particular 
requirements  of  our  task  than  they  have  been ;  and  what 
I  want  to  say  is  that  the  men  and  the  women  who  devote 
their  thought  and  their  energy  to  these  things  will  be 
serving  the  country  and  conducting  the  fight  for  peace 
and  freedom  just  as  truly  and  just  as  effectively  as  the 
men  on  the  battlefield  or  in  the  trenches.  The  industrial 
forces  of  the  country,  men  and  women  alike,  will  be 
a  great  national,  a  great  international,  Service  Army, — 
a  notable  and  honored  host  engaged  in  the  service  of 
the  nation  and  the  world,  the  efficient  friends  and 
saviors  of  free  men  everywhere.  Thousands,  nay,  hun 
dreds  of  thousands,  of  men  otherwise  liable  to  military 
service  will  of  right  and  of  necessity  be  excused  from 
that  service  and  assigned  to  the  fundamental,  sustain 
ing  work  of  the  fields  and  factories  and  mines,  and  they 
will  be  as  much  part  of  the  great  patriotic  forces  of  the 
nation  as  the  men  under  fire. 

I  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  of  addressing  this  word 
to  the  farmers  of  the  country  and  to  all  who  work  on 
the  farms:  The  supreme  need  of  our  own  nation  and 
of  the  nations  with  which  we  are  co-operating  is  an 
abundance  of  supplies,  and  especially  of  foodstuffs. 
The  importance  of  an  adequate  food  supply,  especially 
for  the  present  year,  is  superlative.  Without  abundant 
food,  alike  for  the  armies  and  the  peoples  now  at  war, 
the  whole  great  enterprise  upon  which  we  have  em 
barked  will  break  down  and  fail.  The  world's  food 
reserves  are  low.  Not  only  during  the  present  emer- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  291 

gency  but  for  some  time  after  peace  shall  have  come 
both  our  own  people  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
people  of  Europe  must  rely  upon  the  harvests  in 
America.  Upon  the  farmers  of  this  country,  therefore, 
in  large  measure,  rests  the  fate  of  the  war  and  the  fate 
of  the  nations.  May  the  nation  not  count  upon  them 
to  omit  no  step  that  will  increase  the  production  of  their 
land  or  that  will  bring  about  the  most  effectual  co-oper 
ation  in  the  sale  and  distribution  of  their  products? 
The  time  is  short.  It  is  of  the  most  imperative  impor 
tance  that  everything  possible  be  done  and  done  immedi 
ately  to  make  sure  of  large  harvests.  I  call  upon  young 
men  and  old  alike  and  upon  the  able-bodied  boys  of  the 
land  to  accept  and  act  upon  this  duty — to  turn  in  hosts 
to  the  farms  and  make  certain  that  no  pains  and  no 
labor  is  lacking  in  this  great  matter. 

I  particularly  appeal  to  the  farmers  of  the  South 
to  plant  abundant  foodstuffs  as  well  as  cotton.  They 
can  show  their  patriotism  in  no  better  or  more  con 
vincing  way  than  by  resisting  the  great  temptation  of 
the  present  price  of  cotton  and  helping,  helping  upon 
a  great  scale,  to  feed  the  nation  and  the  peoples  every 
where  who  are  fighting  for  their  liberties  and  for  our 
own.  The  variety  of  their  crops  will  be  the  visible 
measure  of  their  comprehension  of  their  national  duty. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  gov 
ernments  of  the  several  States  stand  ready  to  co-operate. 
They  will  do  everything  possible  to  assist  farmers  in 
securing  an  adequate  supply  of  seed,  an  adequate  force 
of  laborers  when  they  are  most  needed,  at  harvest  time, 
and  the  means  of  expediting  shipments  of  fertilizers 


292          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  farm  machinery,  as  well  as  of  the  crops  themselves 
when  harvested.  The  course  of  trade  shall  be  as  un 
hampered  as  it  is  possible  to  make  it  and  there  shall 
be  no  unwarranted  manipulation  of  the  nation's  food 
supply  by  those  who  handle  it  on  its  way  to  the  con 
sumer.  This  is  our  opportunity  to  demonstrate  the 
efficiency  of  a  great  Democracy  and  we  shall  not  fall 
short  of  it! 

This  let  me  say  to  the  middlemen  of  every  sort, 
whether  they  are  handling  our  foodstuffs  or  our  raw 
materials  of  manufacture  or  the  products  of  our  mills 
and  factories :  The  eyes  of  the  country  will  be  especially 
upon  you.  This  is  your  opportunity  for  signal  service, 
efficient  and  disinterested.  The  country  expects  you, 
as  it  expects  all  others,  to  forego  unusual  profits,  to 
organize  and  expedite  shipments  of  supplies  of  every 
kind,  but  especially  of  food,  with  an  eye  to  the  service 
you  are  rendering  and  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  enlist 
in  the  ranks,  for  their  people,  not  for  themselves.  I 
shall  confidently  expect  you  to  deserve  and  win  the  con 
fidence  of  people  of  every  sort  and  station. 

To  the  men  who  run  the  railways  of  the  country, 
whether  they  be  managers  or  operative  employees,  let 
me  say  that  the  railways  are  the  arteries  of  the  nation's 
life  and  that  upon  them  rests  the  immense  responsi 
bility  of  seeing  to  it  that  those  arteries  suffer  no  obstruc 
tion  of  any  kind,  no  inefficiency  or  slackened  power. 
To  the  merchant  let  me  suggest  the  motto,  "  Small 
profits  and  quick  service;"  and  to  the  shipbuilder  the 
thought  that  the  life  of  the  war  depends  upon  him. 
The  food  and  the  war  supplies  must  be  carried  across 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  293 

the  seas  no  matter  how  many  ships  are  sent  to  the 
bottom.  The  places  of  those  that  go  down  must  be 
supplied  and  supplied  at  once.  To  the  miner  let  me 
say  that  he  stands  where  the  farmer  does:  the  work  of 
the  world  waits  on  him.  If  he  slackens  or  fails,  armies 
and  statesmen  are  helpless.  He  also  is  enlisted  in  the 
great  Service  Army.  The  manufacturer  does  not  need 
to  be  told,  I  hope,  that  the  nation  looks  to  him  to  speed 
and  perfect  every  process;  and  I  want  only  to  remind 
his  employees  that  their  service  is  absolutely  indispen 
sable  and  is  counted  on  by  every  man  who  loves  the 
country  and  its  liberties. 

Let  me  suggest,  also,  that  everyone  who  creates  or 
cultivates  a  garden  helps,  and  helps  greatly,  to  solve 
the  problem  of  the  feeding  of  the  nations;  and  that 
every  housewife  who  practices  strict  economy  puts  her 
self  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  serve  the  nation.  This 
is  the  time  for  America  to  correct  her  unpardonable 
fault  of  wastefulness  and  extravagance.  Let  every  man 
and  every  woman  assume  the  duty  of  careful,  provident 
use  and  expenditure  as  a  public  duty,  as  a  dictate  of 
patriotism  which  no  one  can  now  expect  ever  to  be 
excused  or  forgiven  for  ignoring. 

In  the  hope  that  this  statement  of  the  needs  of  the 
nation  and  of  the  world  in  this  hour  of  supreme  crisis 
may  stimulate  those  to  whom  it  comes  and  remind  all 
who  need  reminder  of  the  solemn  duties  of  a  time  such 
as  the  world  has  never  seen  before,  I  beg  that  all  editors 
and  publishers  everywhere  will  give  as  prominent  publi 
cation  and  as  wide  circulation  as  possible  to  this  appeal. 
I  venture  to  suggest,  also,  to  all  advertising  agencies 


294          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

that  they  would  perhaps  render  a  very  substantial  and 
timely  service  to  the  country  if  they  would  give  it  wide 
spread  repetition.  And  I  hope  that  clergymen  will  not 
think  the  theme  of  it  an  unworthy  or  inappropriate 
subject  of  comment  and  homily  from  their  pulpits. 
The  supreme  test  of  the  nation  has  come.  We  must 
all  speak,  act,  and  serve  together! 

WOODROW  WILSON. 


ADDRESS  AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  RED 

CROSS  BUILDING,  WASHINGTON, 

MAY  12,  1917 

In  the  course  of  the  following  address,  President  Wilson  said,  in  speaking 
of  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  the  Imperial  German  Government: 
"  We  have  gone  in  with  no  special  grievance  of  our  own." 

This  phrase  did  not  stand  alone,  and  the  text  of  which  it  was  a  part  clearly 
showed  the  President's  thought  to  be  that  the  war  was  commenced  by  Germany 
and  that  our  liberty  as  well  as  the  liberty  of  the  world  was  at  stake.  It  waa 
only  in  this  sense  he  meant  it  to  be  understood  that  we  had  no  special  grievance. 
As,  however,  the  expression  was  seized  upon  as  if  it  stood  alone,  the  President 
wrote  on  May  22,  1917,  and  made  public  the  following  letter  to  Representative 
Heflin,  who  had  addressed  him  on  the  subject: 

"  It  is  incomprehensible  to  me  how  any  frank  or  honest  person  could  doubt  or 
question  my  position  with  regard  to  the  war  and  its  objects.  I  have  again  and 
again  stated  the  very  serious  and  long-continued  wrongs  which  the  Imperial 
German  Government  has  perpetrated  against  the  rights,  the  commerce,  and  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  list  is  long  and  overwhelming.  No  nation 
that  respected  itself  or  the  rights  of  humanity  could  have  borne  those  wrongs 
any  longer. 

"  Our  objects  in  going  into  the  war  have  been  stated  with  equal  clearness. 
The  whole  of  the  conception,  which  I  take  to  be  the  conception  of  our  fellow- 
countrymen,  with  regard  to  the  outcome  of  the  war  and  the  terms  of  its  settle 
ment  I  set  forth  with  the  utmost  explicitness  in  an  address  to  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  on  the  twenty-second  of  January  last.  Again,  in  my  message 
to  Congress  on  the  second  of  April  last  those  objects  were  stated  in  unmistakable 
terms.  I  can  conceive  no  purpose  in  seeking  to  becloud  this  matter  except  the 
purpose  of  weakening  the  hands  of  the  Government  and  making  the  part  which 
the  United  States  is  to  play  in  this  great  struggle  for  human  liberty  an 
inefficient  and  hesitating  part.  We  have  entered  the  war  for  our  own  reasons 
and  with  our  own  objects  clearly  stated,  and  shall  forget  neither  the  reasons 
nor  the  objects.  There  is  no  hate  in  our  hearts  for  the  German  people,  but 
there  is  a  resolve  which  cannot  be  shaken  even  by  misrepresentation  to  overcome 
the  pretensions  of  the  autocratic  Government  which  acts  upon  purposes  to  which 
the  German  people  have  never  consented." 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  MR.  SECRETARY,  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  : 

It  gives  me  a  very  deep  gratification  as  the  titular 

head  of  the  American  Red  Cross  to  accept  in  the  name 

of  that  association  this  significant  and  beautiful  gift, 

295 


296          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

the  gift  of  the  government  and  of  private  individuals 
who  have  conceived  their  duty  in  a  noble  spirit  and 
upon  a  great  scale.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  architecture 
of  the  building  to  which  the  Secretary  alluded  sug 
gests  something  very  significant.  There  are  few  build 
ings  in  Washington  more  simple  in  their  lines  and  in 
their  ornamentation  than  the  beautiful  building  we  are 
dedicating  this  evening.  It  breathes  a  spirit  of  mod 
esty  and  seems  to  adorn  duty  with  its  proper  garment 
of  beauty.  It  is  significant  that  it  should  be  dedicated 
to  women  who  served  to  alleviate  suffering  and  com 
fort  those  who  were  in  need  during  our  Civil  War, 
because  their  thoughtful,  disinterested,  self-sacrificing 
devotion  is  the  spirit  which  should  always  illustrate 
the  services  of  the  Red  Cross. 

The  Red  Cross  needs  at  this  time  more  than  ever  it 
needed  before  the  comprehending  support  of  the  Ameri 
can  people  and  all  the  facilities  which  could  be  placed 
at  its  disposal  to  perform  its  duties  adequately  and 
efficiently. 

I  believe  that  the  American  people  perhaps  hardly 
yet  realize  the  sacrifices  and  sufferings  that  are  before 
them.  We  thought  the  scale  of  our  Civil  War  was  un 
precedented,  but  in  comparison  with  the  struggle  into 
which  we  have  now  entered  the  Civil  War  seems  almost 
insignificant  in  its  proportions  and  in  its  expenditure  of 
treasure  and  of  blood.  And,  therefore,  it  is  a  matter 
of  the  greatest  importance  that  we  should  at  the  outset 
see  to  it  that  the  American  Red  Cross  is  equipped  and 
prepared  for  the  things  that  lie  before  it. 

It  will  be  our  instrument  to  do  the  works  of  allevi- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  297 

ation  and  mercy  which  will  attend  this  struggle. 
Of  course,  the  scale  upon  which  it  shall  act  will  be 
greater  than  the  scale  of  any  other  duty  that  it  has 
ever  attempted  to  perform. 

It  is  in  recognition  of  that  fact  that  the  American 
Red  Cross  has  just  added  to  its  organization  a  small 
body  of  men  whom  it  has  chosen  to  call  its  war  council 
— not  because  they  are  to  counsel  war,  but  because  they 
are  to  serve  in  this  special  war  those  purposes  of  coun 
sel  which  have  become  so  imperatively  necessary. 

Their  first  duty  will  be  to  raise  a  great  fund  out  of 
which  to  draw  the  resources  for  the  performance  of 
their  duty,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  it  will  be  neces 
sary  to  appeal  to  the  American  people  to  respond  to 
their  call  for  funds,  because  the  heart  of  this  country 
is  in  this  war,  and  if  the  heart  of  the  country  is  in  the 
war,  its  heart  will  express  itself  in  the  gifts  that  will 
be  poured  out  for  those  humane  purposes. 

I  say  the  heart  of  the  country  is  in  this  war  because 
it  would  not  have  gone  into  it  if  its  heart  had  not  been 
prepared  for  it.  It  would  not  have  gone  into  it  if  it 
had  not  first  believed  that  here  was  an  opportunity  to 
express  the  character  of  the  United  States. 

We  have  gone  in  with  no  special  grievance  of  our 
own,  because  we  have  always  said  that  we  were  the 
friends  and  servants  of  mankind.  We  look  for  no  profit. 
We  look  for  no  advantage.  We  will  accept  no  advan 
tage  out  of  this  war. 

We  go  because  we  believe  that  the  very  principles 
upon  which  the  American  Republic  was  founded  are 
now  at  stake  and  must  be  vindicated. 


298          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

In  such  a  contest,  therefore,  we  shall  not  fail  to 
respond  to  the  call  for  service  that  comes  through  the 
instrumentality  of  this  particular  organization. 

And  I  think  it  not  inappropriate  to  say  this:  There 
will  be  many  expressions  of  the  spirit  of  sympathy  and 
mercy  and  philanthropy,  and  I  think  that  it  is  very 
necessary  that  we  should  not  disperse  our  activities  in 
those  lines  too  much;  that  we  should  keep  constantly 
in  view  the  desire  to  have  the  utmost  concentration  and 
efficiency  of  effort,  and  I  hope  that  most,  if  not  all,  of 
the  philanthropic  activities  of  this  war  may  be 
exercised,  if  not  through  the  Bed  Cross  then  through 
some  already  constituted  and  experienced  organiza 
tion. 

This  is  no  war  for  amateurs.  This  is  no  war  for 
mere  spontaneous  impulse.  It  means  grim  business  on 
every  side  of  it,  and  it  is  the  mere  counsel  of  prudence 
that  in  our  philanthropy  as  well  as  in  our  fighting  we 
should  act  through  the  instrumentalities  already  pre 
pared  to  our  hand  and  already  experienced  in  the  tasks 
which  are  going  to  be  assigned  to  them.  This  should 
be  merely  the  expression  of  the  practical  genius  of 
America  itself,  and  I  believe  that  the  practical  genius 
of  America  will  dictate  that  the  efforts  in  this  war  in 
this  particular  field  should  be  concentrated  in  experi 
enced  hands  as  our  efforts  in  other  fields  will  be. 

There  is  another  thing  that  is  significant  and  delight 
ful  to  my  thought  about  the  fact  that  this  building 
should  be  dedicated  to  the  memory  of  the  women  both 
of  the  North  and  South.  It  is  a  sort  of  landmark  of 
the  unity  to  which  the  people  have  been  brought  so  far 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  299 

as  any  old  question  which  tore  our  hearts  in  days  gone 
by  is  concerned;  and  I  pray  God  that  the  outcome  of 
this  struggle  may  be  that  every  other  element  of  dif 
ference  amongst  us  will  be  obliterated  and  that  some 
day  historians  will  remember  these  momentous  years 
as  the  years  which  made  a  single  people  out  of  the 
great  body  of  those  who  call  themselves  Americans. 

The  evidences  are  already  many  that  this  is  hap 
pening.  The  divisions  which  were  predicted  have  not 
occurred  and  will  not  occur. 

The  spirit  of  this  people  is  already  united,  and  when 
effort  and  suffering  and  sacrifice  have  completed  the 
union,  men  will  no  longer  speak  of  any  lines  either  of 
race  or  association  cutting  athwart  the  great  body  of 
this  nation. 

So  that  I  feel  that  we  are  now  beginning  the  pro 
cesses  which  will  some  day  require  another  beautiful 
memorial  erected  to  those  whose  hearts  uniting  united 
America. 


ADDRESS  ON  MEMORIAL  DAY  AT  ARLING 
TON,  MAY  30,  1917  x 

The  program  has  conferred  an  unmerited  dignity 
upon  the  remarks  I  am  going  to  make  by  calling  them 
an  address,  because  I  am  not  here  to  deliver  an  address. 
I  am  here  merely  to  show  in  my  official  capacity  the 
sympathy  of  this  great  government  with  the  object  of 
this  occasion,  and  also  to  speak  just  a  word  of  the  senti 
ment  that  is  within  my  own  heart. 

Any  Memorial  day  of  this  sort  is,  of  course,  a  day 
touched  with  sorrowful  memory,  and  yet  I  for  one  do 
not  see  how  we  can  have  any  thought  of  pity  for  the 
men  whose  memory  we  honor  to-day.  I  do  not  pity 
them.  I  envy  them,  rather,  because  theirs  is  a  great 
work  for  liberty  accomplished  and  we  are  in  the  midst 
of  a  work  unfinished,  testing  our  strength  where  their 
strength  has  already  been  tested. 

There  is  a  touch  of  sorrow,  but  there  is  a  touch  of 
reassurance  also  in  a  day  like  this,  because  we  know 
how  the  men  of  America  have  responded  to  the  call  of 
the  cause  of  liberty,  and  it  fills  our  mind  with  a  perfect 
assurance  that  that  response  will  come  again  in  equal 
measure,  with  equal  majesty,  and  with  a  result  which 
will  hold  the  attention  of  all  mankind. 

When  you  reflect  upon  it  these  men  who  died  to 
preserve  the  Union  died  to  preserve  the  instrument 

1  Only  that  part  of  the  address  is  given  which  concerns  international  affaire. 

300 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  301 

which  we  are  now  using  to  serve  the  world — a  free 
nation  espousing  the  cause  of  human  liberty.  In  one 
sense  the  great  struggle  into  which  we  have  now  en 
tered  is  an  American  struggle,  because  it  is  in  the 
sense  of  American  honor  and  American  rights,  but 
it  is  something  even  greater  than  that,  it  is  a  world 
struggle. 

It  is  a  struggle  of  men  who  love  liberty  everywhere, 
and  in  this  cause  America  will  show  herself  greater  than 
ever,  because  she  will  rise  to  a  greater  thing. 

We  have  said  in  the  beginning  that  we  planned  this 
great  government  that  men  who  wish  freedom  might 
have  a  place  of  refuge  and  a  place  where  their  hope 
could  be  realized  and  now,  having  established  such  a 
government,  having  preserved  such  a  government,  hav 
ing  vindicated  the  power  of  such  a  government,  we  are 
saying  to  all  mankind,  "we  did  not  set  this  government 
up  in  order  that  we  might  have  a  selfish  and  separate 
liberty,  for  we  are  now  ready  to  come  to  your  assist 
ance  and  fight  out  upon  the  fields  of  the  world  the  cause 
of  human  liberty."  In  this  thing  America  attains  her 
full  dignity  and  the  full  fruition  of  her  great  pur 
pose. 

No  man  can  be  glad  that  such  things  have  happened 
as  we  have  witnessed  these  last  fateful  years,  but 
perhaps  it  may  be  permitted  to  us  to  be  glad  that  we 
have  an  opportunity  to  show  the  principles  that  we 
profess  to  be  living,  principles  that  live  in  our  hearts, 
and  to  have  a  chance  by  the  pouring  out  of  our  blood 
and  treasure  to  vindicate  the  things  which  we  have  pro 
fessed. 


302          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

For,  my  friends,  the  real  fruition  of  life  is  to  do 
the  things  we  have  said  we  wish  to  do.  There  are 
times  when  work  seems  empty  and  only  action  seems 
great.  Such  a  time  has  come,  and  in  the  providence  of 
God  America  will  once  more  have  an  opportunity  to 
show  the  world  she  was  born  to  serve  mankind. 


ADDRESS  AT  THE  CONFEDERATE  REUNION, 
WASHINGTON,  JUNE  6,  1917 

I  esteem  it  a  very  great  pleasure  and  a  real  privi 
lege  to  extend  to  the  men  who  are  attending  this  reunion 
the  very  cordial  greetings  of  the  United  States. 

I  suppose  that  as  you  mix  with  one  another  you 
chiefly  find  these  to  be  days  of  memory,  when  your 
thoughts  go  back  and  recall  those  days  of  struggle  in 
which  your  hearts  were  strained,  in  which  the  whole 
nation  seemed  in  grapple,  and  I  dare  say  that  you  are 
thrilled  as  you  remember  the  heroic  things  that  were 
then  done. 

You  are  glad  to  remember  that  heroic  things  were 
done  on  both  sides  and  that  men  in  those  days  fought 
in  something  like  the  old  spirit  of  chivalric  gallantry. 

There  are  many  memories  of  the  Civil  War  that 
thrill  along  the  blood  and  make  one  proud  to  have  been 
sprung  of  a  race  that  could  produce  such  bravery  and 
constancy ;  and  yet  the  world  does  not  live  on  memories. 

The  world  is  constantly  making  its  toilsome  way  for 
ward  into  new  and  different  days  and  I  believe  that  one 
of  the  things  that  contribute  satisfaction  to  a  reunion 
like  this  and  a  welcome  like  this  is  that  this  is  also  a  day 
of  oblivion. 

There  are  some  things  that  we  have  thankfully  buried, 
and  among  them  are  the  great  passions  of  division  which 
once  threatened  to  rend  this  nation  in  twain. 

303 


304          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  passion  of  admiration  we  still  entertain  for  the 
heroic  figures  of  those  old  days,  but  the  passion  of 
separation,  the  passion  of  difference  of  principle  is 
gone — gone  out  of  our  minds,  gone  out  of  our  hearts, 
and  one  of  the  things  that  will  thrill  this  country  as 
it  reads  of  this  reunion  is  that  it  will  read  also  of  a 
rededication  on  the  part  of  all  of  us  to  the  great  nation 
which  we  serve  in  common. 

These  are  days  of  oblivion  as  well  as  of  memory, 
for  we  are  forgetting  the  things  that  once  held  us 
asunder.  Not  only  that,  but  they  are  days  of  rejoicing 
because  we  now  at  last  see  why  this  great  nation  was 
kept  united,  for  we  are  beginning  to  see  the  great  world 
purpose  which  it  was  meant  to  serve. 

Many  men  I  know,  particularly  of  your  own  genera 
tion,  have  wondered  at  some  of  the  dealings  of  Provi 
dence,  but  the  wise  heart  never  questions  the  dealings 
of  Providence,  because  the  great  long  plan  as  it  unfolds 
has  a  majesty  about  it  and  a  definiteness  of  purpose, 
an  elevation  of  ideal  which  we  were  incapable  of  con 
ceiving  as  we  tried  to  work  things  out  with  our  own 
short  sight  and  weak  strength. 

And  now  that  we  see  ourselves  part  of  a  nation 
united,  powerful,  great  in  spirit  and  in  purpose,  we  know 
the  great  ends  which  God  in  His  mysterious  Providence 
wrought  through  our  instrumentality,  because  at  the 
heart  of  the  men  of  the  North  and  of  the  South  there 
was  the  same  love  of  self-government  and  of  liberty 
and  now  we  are  to  be  an  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  God  to  see  that  liberty  is  made  secure  for  man 
kind. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  305 

At  the  day  of  our  greatest  division  there  was  one 
common  passion  among  us,  and  that  was  the  passion 
for  human  freedom.  We  did  not  know  that  God  was 
working  out  in  His  own  way  the  method  by  which  we 
should  best  serve  human  freedom — by  making  this  Union 
a  great  united,  indivisible,  indestructible  instrument  in 
His  hands  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  great 
things. 

As  I  came  along  the  streets  a  few  minutes  ago  my 
heart  was  full  of  the  thought  that  this  is  registration 
day.  Will  you  not  support  me  in  feeling  that  there  is 
some  significance  in  this  coincidence,  that  this  day,  when 
I  come  to  welcome  you  to  the  National  Capital,  is  the 
day  when  men  young  as  you  were  in  those  old  days, 
when  you  gathered  together  to  fight,  are  now  registering 
their  names  as  evidence  of  this  great  idea,  that  in  a 
democracy  the  duty  to  serve  and  the  privilege  to  serve 
falls  upon  all  alike? 

There  is  something  very  fine,  my  fellow  citi 
zens,  in  the  spirit  of  the  volunteer,  but  deeper 
than  the  volunteer  spirit  is  the  spirit  of  obliga 
tion. 

There  is  not  a  man  of  us  who  must  not  hold  him 
self  ready  to  be  summoned  to  the  duty  of  supporting 
the  great  government  under  which  we  live.  No  really 
thoughtful  and  patriotic  man  is  jealous  of  that  obliga 
tion.  No  man  who  really  understands  the  privilege  and 
dignity  of  being  an  American  citizen  quarrels  for  a 
moment  with  the  idea  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  has  the  right  to  call  upon  whom  it  will  to  serve 
the  nation. 


306          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

These  solemn  lines  of  young  men  going  to-day  all 
over  the  union  to  the  places  of  registration  ought  to 
be  a  signal  to  the  world,  to  those  who  dare  flout  the 
dignity  and  honor  and  rights  of  the  United  States,  that 
all  her  manhood  will  flock  to  that  standard  under  which 
we  all  delight  to  serve,  and  that  he  who  challenges  the 
rights  and  principles  of  the  United  States  challenges  the 
united  strength  and  devotion  of  a  nation. 

There  are  not  many  things  that  one  desires  about 
war,  my  fellow  citizens,  but  you  have  come  through  war ; 
you  know  how  you  have  been  chastened  by  it,  and  there 
comes  a  time  when  it  is  good  for  a  nation  to  know  that 
it  must  sacrifice,  if  need  be,  everything  that  it  has  to 
vindicate  the  principles  which  it  professes. 

We  have  prospered  with  a  sort  of  heedless  and  irre 
sponsible  prosperity.  Now  we  are  going  to  lay  all  our 
wealth,  if  necessary,  and  spend  all  our  blood,  if  need  be, 
to  show  that  we  were  not  accumulating  that  wealth  sel 
fishly,  but  were  accumulating  it  for  the  service  of  man 
kind. 

Men  all  over  the  world  have  thought  of  the  United 
States  as  a  trading  and  money-getting  people,  where 
as  we  who  have  lived  at  home  know  the  ideals  with 
which  the  hearts  of  this  people  have  thrilled;  we  know 
the  sober  convictions  which  have  lain  at  the  basis  of 
our  life  all  the  time,  and  we  know  the  power  and  devo 
tion  which  can  be  spent  in  heroic  ways  for  the  service 
of  those  ideals  that  we  have  treasured. 

We  have  been  allowed  to  become  strong  in  the  provi 
dence  of  God  that  our  strength  might  be  used  to  prove 
not  our  selfishness,  but  our  greatness,  and  if  there  is 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  307 

any  ground  for  thankfulness  in  a  day  like  this  I  am 
thankful  for  the  privilege  of  self-sacrifice  which  is  the 
only  privilege  that  lends  dignity  to  the  human  spirit. 
And  so  it  seems  to  me  that  we  may  regard  this  as 
a  very  happy  day,  because  a  day  of  reunion,  a  day  of 
noble  memories,  a  day  of  dedication,  a  day  of  the  renewal 
of  the  spirit  which  has  made  America  great  among  the 
peoples  of  the  world. 


FLAG  DAY  ADDRESS,  DELIVERED  AT  WASH 
INGTON,  JUNE   14,   1917 

MY  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

We  meet  to  celebrate  Flag  Day  because  this  flag 
which  we  honor  and  under  which  we  serve  is  the  emblem 
of  our  unity,  our  power,  our  thought  and  purpose  as 
a  nation.  It  has  no  other  character  than  that  which 
we  give  it  from  generation  to  generation.  The  choices 
are  ours.  It  floats  in  majestic  silence  above  the  hosts 
that  execute  those  choices,  whether  in  peace  or  in  war. 
And  yet,  though  silent,  it  speaks  to  us, — speaks  to  us 
of  the  past,  of  the  men  and  women  who  went  before 
us  and  of  the  records  they  wrote  upon  it.  We  celebrate 
the  day  of  its  birth ;  and  from  its  birth  until  now  it  has 
witnessed  a  great  history,  has  floated  on  high  the  symbol 
of  great  events,  of  a  great  plan  of  life  worked  out  by 
a  great  people.  We  are  about  to  carry  it  into  battle, 
to  lift  it  where  it  will  draw  the  fire  of  our  enemies. 
We  are  about  to  bid  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands, 
it  may  be  millions,  of  our  men,  the  young,  the  strong, 
the  capable  men  of  the  nation,  to  go  forth  and  die  be 
neath  it  on  fields  of  blood  far  away, — for  what?  For 
some  unaccustomed  thing?  For  something  for  which 
it  has  never  sought  the  fire  before?  American  armies 
were  never  before  sent  across  the  seas.  Why  are  they 
sent  now?  For  some  new  purpose,  for  which  this  great 
flag  has  never  been  carried  before,  or  for  some  old, 
familiar,  heroic  purpose  for  which  it  has  seen  men, 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  309 

its  own  men,  die  on  every  battlefield  upon  which  Ameri 
cans  have  borne  arms  since  the  Revolution? 

These  are  questions  which  must  be  answered.  We  are 
Americans.  We  in  our  turn  serve  America,  and  can 
serve  her  with  no  private  purpose.  We  must  use  her 
flag  as  she  has  always  used  it.  We  are  accountable  at 
the  bar  of  history  and  must  plead  in  utter  frankness 
what  purpose  it  is  we  seek  to  serve. 

It  is  plain  enough  how  we  were  forced  into  the  war. 
The  extraordinary  insults  and  aggressions  of  the  Im 
perial  German  Government  left  us  no  self-respecting 
choice  but  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  our  rights  as 
a  free  people  and  of  our  honor  as  a  sovereign  govern 
ment.  The  military  masters  of  Germany  denied  us  the 
right  to  be  neutral.  They  filled  our  unsuspecting  com 
munities  with  vicious  spies  and  conspirators  and  sought 
to  corrupt  the  opinion  of  our  people  in  their  own  behalf. 
When  they  found  that  they  could  not  do  that,  their 
agents  diligently  spread  sedition  amongst  us  and  sought 
to  draw  our  own  citizens  from  their  allegiance, — and 
some  of  those  agents  were  men  connected  with  the  offi 
cial  Embassy  of  the  German  Government  itself  here 
in  our  own  capital.  They  sought  by  violence  to  destroy 
our  industries  and  arrest  our  commerce.  They  tried  to 
incite  Mexico  to  take  up  arms  against  us  and  to  draw 
Japan  into  a  hostile  alliance  with  her, — and  that,  not 
by  indirection,  but  by  direct  suggestion  from  the  For 
eign  Office  in  Berlin.  They  impudently  denied  us  the 
use  of  the  high  seas  and  repeatedly  executed  their  threat 
that  they  would  send  to  their  death  any  of  our  people 
who  ventured  to  approach  the  coasts  of  Europe.  And 


310          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

many  of  our  own  people  were  corrupted.  Men  began 
to  look  upon  their  own  neighbors  with  suspicion  and  to 
wonder  in  their  hot  resentment  and  surprise  whether 
there  was  any  community  in  which  hostile  intrigue  did 
not  lurk.  What  great  nation  in  such  circumstances 
would  not  have  taken  up  arms?  Much  as  we  had 
desired  peace,  it  was  denied  us,  and  not  of  our  own 
choice.  This  flag  under  which  we  serve  would  have  been 
dishonored  had  we  withheld  our  hand. 

But  that  is  only  part  of  the  story.  We  know  now 
as  clearly  as  we  knew  before  we  were  ourselves  engaged 
that  we  are  not  the  enemies  of  the  German  people  and 
that  they  are  not  our  enemies.  They  did  not  originate 
or  desire  this  hideous  war  or  wish  that  we  should  be 
drawn  into  it.;  and  we  are  vaguely  conscious  that  we 
are  fighting  their  cause,  as  they  will  some  day  see  it, 
as  well  as  our  own.  They  are  themselves  in  the  grip 
of  the  same  sinister  power  that  has  now  at  last  stretched 
its  ugly  talons  out  and  drawn  blood  from  us.  The  whole 
world  is  at  war  because  the  whole  world  is  in  the  grip 
of  that  power  and  is  trying  out  the  great  battle  which 
shall  determine  whether  it  is  to  be  brought  under  its 
mastery  or  fling  itself  free. 

The  war  was  begun  by  the  military  masters  of  Ger 
many,  who  proved  to  be  also  the  masters  of  Austria- 
Hungary.  These  men  have  never  regarded  nations  as 
peoples,  men,  women,  and  children  of  like  blood  and 
frame  as  themselves,  for  whom  governments  existed  and 
in  whom  governments  had  their  life.  They  have  re 
garded  them  merely  as  serviceable  organizations  which 
they  could  by  force  or  intrigue  bend  or  corrupt  to  their 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  311 

own  purpose.  They  have  regarded  the  smaller  states, 
in  particular,  and  the  peoples  who  could  be  overwhelmed 
by  force,  as  their  natural  tools  and  instruments  of  domi 
nation.  Their  purpose  has  long  been  avowed.  The 
statesmen  of  other  nations,  to  whom  that  purpose  was 
incredible,  paid  little  attention  j  regarded  what  German 
professors  expounded  in  their  classrooms  and  German 
writers  set  forth  to  the  world  as  the  goal  of  German 
policy  as  rather  the  dream  of  minds  detached  from 
practical  affairs,  as  preposterous  private  conceptions 
of  German  destiny,  than  as  the  actual  plans  of  respon 
sible  rulers ;  but  the  rulers  of  Germany  themselves  knew 
all  the  while  what  concrete  plans,  what  well  advanced 
intrigues  lay  back  of  what  the  professors  and  the  writers 
were  saying,  and  were  glad  to  go  forward  unmolested, 
filling  the  thrones  of  Balkan  states  with  German  princes, 
putting  German  officers  at  the  service  of  Turkey  to  drill 
her  armies  and  make  interest  with  her  government, 
developing  plans  of  sedition  and  rebellion  in  India  and 
Egypt,  setting  their  fires  in  Persia.  The  demands  made 
by  Austria  upon  Servia  were  a  mere  single  step  in  a 
plan  which  compassed  Europe  and  Asia,  from  Berlin 
to  Bagdad.  They  hoped  those  demands  might  not  arouse 
Europe,  but  they  meant  to  press  them  whether  they  did 
or  not,  for  they  thought  themselves  ready  for  the  final 
issue  of  arms. 

Their  plan  was  to  throw  a  broad  belt  of  German 
military  power  and  political  control  across  the  very 
center  of  Europe  and  beyond  the  Mediterranean  into 
the  heart  of  Asia;  and  Austria-Hungary  was  to  be  as 
much  their  tool  and  pawn  as  Servia  or  Bulgaria  or 


312          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Turkey  or  the  ponderous  states  of  the  East.  Austria- 
Hungary,  indeed,  was  to  become  part  of  the  central 
German  Empire,  absorbed  and  dominated  by  the  same 
forces  and  influences  that  had  originally  cemented  the 
German  states  themselves.  The  dream  had  its  heart 
at  Berlin.  It  could  haye  had  a  heart  nowhere  else! 
It  rejected  the  idea  of  solidarity  of  race  entirely.  The 
choice  of  peoples  played  no  part  in  it  at  all.  It  con 
templated  binding  together  racial  and  political  units 
which  could  be  kept  together  only  by  force, — Czechs, 
Magyars,  Croats,  Serbs,  Roumanians,  Turks,  Armenians, 
— the  proud  states  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  the  stout 
little  commonwealths  of  the  Balkans,  the  indomitable 
Turks,  the  subtile  peoples  of  the  East.  These  peoples 
did  not  wish  to  be  united.  They  ardently  desired  to 
direct  their  own  affairs,  would  be  satisfied  only  by 
undisputed  independence.  They  could  be  kept  quiet 
only  by  the  presence  or  the  constant  threat  of  armed 
men.  They  would  live  under  a  common  power  only  by 
sheer  compulsion  and  await  the  day  of  revolution.  But 
the  German  military  statesmen  had  reckoned  with  all 
that  and  were  ready  to  deal  with  it  in  their  own  way. 
And  they  have  actually  carried  the  greater  part  of 
that  amazing  plan  into  execution!  Look  how  things 
stand.  Austria  is  at  their  mercy.  It  has  acted,  not 
upon  its  own  initiative  or  upon  the  choice  of  its  own 
people,  but  at  Berlin's  dictation  ever  since  the  war 
began.  Its  people  now  desire  peace,  but  cannot  have 
it  until  leave  is  granted  from  Berlin.  The  so-called 
Central  Powers  are  in  fact  but  a  single  Power.  Servia 
is  at  its  mercy,  should  its  hands  be  but  for  a  moment 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  313 

freed.  Bulgaria  has  consented  to  its  will,  and  Rou- 
mania  is  overrun.  The  Turkish  armies,  which  Germans 
trained,  are  serving  Germany,  certainly  not  themselves, 
and  the  guns  of  German  warships  lying  in  the  harbor 
at  Constantinople  remind  Turkish  statesmen  every  day 
that  they  have  no  choice  but  to  take  their  orders  from 
Berlin.  From  Hamburg  to  the  Persian  Gulf  the  net  is 
spread. 

Is  it  not  easy  to  understand  the  eagerness  for  peace 
that  has  been  manifested  from  Berlin  ever  since  the 
snare  was  set  and  sprung?  Peace,  peace,  peace  has 
been  the  talk  of  her  Foreign  Office  for  now  a  year  and 
more;  not  peace  upon  her  own  initiative,  but  upon  the 
initiative  of  the  nations  over  which  she  now  deems 
herself  to  hold  the  advantage.  A  little  of  the  talk 
has  been  public,  but  most  of  it  has  been  private. 
Through  all  sorts  of  channels  it  has  come  to  me,  and 
in  all  sorts  of  guises,  but  never  with  the  terms  dis 
closed  which  the  German  Government  would  be  willing 
to  accept.  That  government  has  other  valuable  pawns 
in  its  hands  besides  those  I  have  mentioned.  It  still 
holds  a  valuable  part  of  France,  though  with  slowly 
relaxing  grasp,  and  practically  the  whole  of  Belgium. 
Its  armies  press  close  upon  Russia  and  overrun  Poland 
at  their  will.  It  cannot  go  further ;  it  dare  not  go  back. 
It  wishes  to  close  its  bargain  before  it  is  too  late  and 
it  has  little  left  to  offer  for  the  pound  of  flesh  it  will 
demand. 

The  military  masters  under  whom  Germany  is  bleed 
ing  see  very  clearly  to  what  point  Fate  has  brought 
them.  If  they  fall  back  or  are  forced  back  an  inch, 


314          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

their  power  both  abroad  and  at  home  will  fall  to  pieces 
like  a  house  of  cards.  It  is  their  power  at  home  they  are 
thinking  about  now  more  than  their  power  abroad. 
It  is  that  power  which  is  trembling  under  their  very 
feet;  and  deep  fear  has  entered  their  hearts.  They 
have  but  one  chance  to  perpetuate  their  military  power 
or  even  their  controlling  political  influence.  If  they 
can  secure  peace  now  with  the  immense  advantages  still 
in  their  hands  which  they  have  up  to  this  point  appar 
ently  gained,  they  will  have  justified  themselves  before 
the  German  people :  they  will  have  gained  by  force  what 
they  promised  to  gain  by  it:  an  immense  expansion  of 
German  power,  an  immense  enlargement  of  German 
industrial  and  commercial  opportunities.  Their  prestige 
will  be  secure,  and  with  their  prestige  their  political 
power.  If  they  fail,  their  people  will  thrust  them  aside ; 
a  government  accountable  to  the  people  themselves  will 
be  set  up  in  Germany  as  it  has  been  in  England,  in  the 
United  States,  in  France,  and  in  all  the  great  coun 
tries  of  the  modern  time  except  Germany.  If  they  suc 
ceed  they  are  safe  and  Germany  and  the  world  are  un 
done;  if  they  fail  Germany  is  saved  and  the  world  will 
be  at  peace.  If  they  succeed,  America  will  fall  within 
the  menace.  We  and  all  the  rest  of  the  world  must 
remain  armed,  as  they  will  remain,  and  must  make  ready 
for  the  next  step  in  their  aggression;  if  they  fail,  the 
world  may  unite  for  peace  and  Germany  may  be  of 
the  union. 

Do  you  not  now  understand  the  new  intrigue,  the 
intrigue  for  peace,  and  why  the  masters  of  Germany 
do  not  hesitate  to  use  any  agency  that  promises  to  effect 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  315 

their  purpose,  the  deceit  of  the  nations  ?  Their  present 
particular  aim  is  to  deceive  all  those  who  throughout 
the  world  stand  for  the  rights  of  peoples  and  the  self- 
government  of  nations;  for  they  see  what  immense 
strength  the  forces  of  justice  and  of  liberalism  are 
gathering  out  of  this  war.  They  are  employing  liberals 
in  their  enterprise.  They  are  using  men,  in  Germany 
and  without,  as  their  spokesmen  whom  they  have 
hitherto  despised  and  oppressed,  using  them  for  their 
own  destruction, — socialists,  the  leaders  of  labor,  the 
thinkers  they  have  hitherto  sought  to  silence.  Let  them 
once  succeed  and  these  men,  now  their  tools,  will  be 
ground  to  powder  beneath  the  weight  of  the  great  mili 
tary  empire  they  will  have  set  up;  the  revolutionists  in 
Russia  will  be  cut  off  from  all  succour  or  co-operation 
in  western  Europe  and  a  counter  revolution  fostered 
and  supported;  Germany  herself  will  lose  her  chance 
of  freedom;  and  all  Europe  will  arm  for  the  next,  the 
final  struggle. 

The  sinister  intrigue  is  being  no  less  actively  con 
ducted  in  this  country  than  in  Russia  and  in  every 
country  in  Europe  to  which  the  agents  and  dupes  of 
the  Imperial  German  Government  can  get  access.  That 
government  has  many  spokesmen  here,  in  places  high 
and  low.  They  have  learned  discretion.  They  keep 
within  the  law.  It  is  opinion  they  utter  now,  not  sedi 
tion.  They  proclaim  the  liberal  purposes  of  their  mas 
ters  ;  declare  this  a  foreign  war  which  can  touch  America 
with  no  danger  to  either  her  lands  or  her  institutions; 
set  England  at  the  center  of  the  stage  and  talk  of  her 
ambition  to  assert  economic  dominion  throughout  the 


316          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

world;  appeal  to  our  ancient  tradition  of  isolation  in 
the  politics  of  the  nations;  and  seek  to  undermine  the 
government  with  false  professions  of  loyalty  to  its 
principles. 

But  they  will  make  no  headway.  The  false  betray 
themselves  always  in  every  accent.  It  is  only  friends 
and  partisans  of  the  German  Government  whom  we 
have  already  identified  who  utter  these  thinly  disguised 
disloyalties.  The  facts  are  patent  to  all  the  world,  and 
nowhere  are  they  more  plainly  seen  than  in  the  United 
States,  where  we  are  accustomed  to  deal  with  facts  and 
not  with  sophistries;  and  the  great  fact  that  stands  out 
above  all  the  rest  is  that  this  is  a  Peoples'  War,  a  war 
for  freedom  and  justice  and  self-government  amongst 
all  the  nations  of  the  world,  a  war  to  make  the  world 
safe  for  the  peoples  who  live  upon  it  and  have  made 
it  their  own,  the  German  people  themselves  included; 
and  that  with  us  rests  the  choice  to  break  through  all 
these  hypocrisies  and  patent  cheats  and  masks  of  brute 
force  and  help  set  the  world  free,  or  else  stand  aside 
and  let  it  be  dominated  a  long  age  through  by  sheer 
weight  of  arms  and  the  arbitrary  choices  of  self-consti 
tuted  masters,  by  the  nation  which  can  maintain  the 
biggest  armies  and  the  most  irresistible  armaments, — a 
power  to  which  the  world  has  afforded  no  parallel  and 
in  the  face  of  which  political  freedom  must  wither  and 
perish. 

For  us  there  is  but  one  choice.  We  have  made  it. 
Woe  be  to  the  man  or  group  of  men  that  seeks  to  stand 
in  our  way  in  this  day  of  high  resolution  when  every 
principle  we  hold  dearest  is  to  be  vindicated  and  made 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  317 

secure  for  the  salvation  of  the  nations.  We  are  ready 
to  plead  at  the  bar  of  history,  and  our  flag  shall  wear 
a  new  luster.  Once  more  we  shall  make  good  with  our 
lives  and  fortunes  the  great  faith  to  which  we  were 
born,  and  a  new  glory  shall  shine  in  the  face  of  our 
people. 


COMMUNICATION     TO     THE     PROVISIONAL 
GOVERNMENT  OF  RUSSIA,  JUNE  9,  1917 

On  March  15,  1917,  the  world  was  startled  by  the  abdication  of  the  Czar 
of  all  the  Russias  in  favor  of  his  brother,  the  Grand  Duke  Michael.  The  Grand 
Duke,  however,  was  unwilling  to  bear  the  responsibility  which  had  been  too  great 
for  his  brother  and  to  stem  the  current  of  revolution  which  his  brother  had 
failed  to  stem.  He,  therefore,  declined  the  proffered  honor.  A  provisional  gov 
ernment  was  formed,  the  first  recognition  of  which  was  made  by  the  United 
States  on  March  22,  1917.  On  May  12,  1917,  a  special  diplomatic  mission  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  headed  by  the  Honorable  Elihu  Root,  was  sent  to 
Russia.  President  Wilson  himself  prepared  and  transmitted  to  the  Provisional 
Government  of  Russia  the  following  communication. 

In  view  of  the  approaching  visit  of  the  American 
delegation  to  Russia  to  express  the  deep  friendship  of 
the  American  people  for  the  people  of  Russia  and  to 
discuss  the  best  and  most  practical  means  of  co-opera 
tion  between  the  two  peoples  in  carrying  the  present 

/>'>' 

struggle  for  the  freedom  of  all  peoples  to  a  successful 
consummation,  it  seems  opportune  and  appropriate  that 
I  should  state  again,  in  the  light  of  this  new  partner 
ship,  the  objects  the  United  States  has  had  in  mind  in 
entering  the  war.  Those  objects  have  been  very  much 
beclouded  during  the  past  few  weeks  by  mistaken  and 
misleading  statements,  and  the  issues  at  stake  are  too 
momentous,  too  tremendous,  too  significant,  for  the 
whole  human  race  to  permit  any  misinterpretations  or 
misunderstandings,  however  slight,  to  remain  uncor- 
rected  for  a  moment. 

The  war  has  begun  to  go  against  Germany,  and  in 
their  desperate  desire  to  escape  the  inevitable  ultimate 
defeat,  those  who  are  in  authority  in  Germany  are  using 

318 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  319 

every  possible  instrumentality,  are  making  use  even  of 
the  influence  of  groups  and  parties  among  their  own 
subjects  to  whom  they  have  never  been  just  or  fair, 
or  even  tolerant,  to  promote  a  propaganda  on  both  sides 
of  the  sea  which  will  preserve  for  them  their  influence 
at  home  and  their  power  abroad,  to  the  undoing  of  the 
very  men  they  are  using. 

The  position  of  America  in  this  war  is  so  clearly 
avowed  that  no  man  can  be  excused  for  mistaking  it. 
She  seeks  no  material  profit  or  aggrandizement  of  any 
kind.  She  is  fighting  for  no  advantage  or  selfish  object 
of  her  own,  but  for  the  liberation  of  peoples  every 
where  from  the  aggressions  of  autocratic  force. 

The  ruling  classes  in  Germany  have  begun  of  late  to 
profess  a  like  liberality  and  justice  of  purpose,  but  only 
to  preserve  the  power  they  have  set  up  in  Germany  and 
the  selfish  advantages  which  they  have  wrongly  gained 
for  themselves  and  their  private  projects  of  power  all 
the  way  from  Berlin  to  Bagdad  and  beyond.  Govern 
ment  after  government  has  by  their  influence,  without 
open  conquest  of  its  territory,  been  linked  together  in 
a  net  of  intrigue  directed  against  nothing  less  than  the 
peace  and  liberty  of  the  world.  The  meshes  of  that 
intrigue  must  be  broken,  but  cannot  be  broken  unless 
wrongs  already  done  are  undone;  and  adequate  meas 
ures  must  be  taken  to  prevent  it  from  ever  again  being 
rewoven  or  repaired. 

Of  course,  the  Imperial  German  Government  and 
those  whom  it  is  using  for  their  own  undoing  are  seek 
ing  to  obtain  pledges  that  the  war  will  end  in  the  resto 
ration  of  the  status  quo  ante.  It  was  the  status  quo  ante 


320          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

out  of  which  this  iniquitous  war  issued  forth,  the  power 
of  the  Imperial  German  Government  within  the  Empire 
and  its  widespread  domination  and  influence  outside  of 
that  Empire.  That  status  must  be  altered  in  such 
fashion  as  to  prevent  any  such  hideous  thing  from  ever 
happening  again. 

We  are  fighting  for  the  liberty,  the  self-government, 
and  the  undictated  development  of  all  peoples,  and  every 
feature  of  the  settlement  that  concludes  this  war  must 
be  conceived  and  executed  for  that  purpose.  Wrongs 
must  first  be  righted  and  then  adequate  safeguards 
must  be  created  to  prevent  their  being  committed  again. 
We  ought  not  to  consider  remedies  merely  because  they 
have  a  pleasing  and  sonorous  sound.  Practical  ques 
tions  can  be  settled  only  by  practical  means.  Phrases 
will  not  accomplish  the  result.  Effective  readjustments 
will,  and  whatever  readjustments  are  necessary  must 
be  made. 

But  they  must  follow  a  principle  and  that  prin 
ciple  is  plain.  No  people  must  be  forced  under  sover 
eignty  under  which  it  does  not  wish  to  live.  No  terri 
tory  must  change  hands  except  for  the  purpose  of  secur 
ing  those  who  inhabit  it  a  fair  chance  of  life  and 
liberty.  No  indemnities  must  be  insisted  on  except  those 
that  constitute  payment  for  manifest  wrongs  done.  No 
readjustments  of  power  must  be  made  except  such  as 
will  tend  to  secure  the  future  peace  of  the  world  and 
the  future  welfare  and  happiness  of  its  peoples. 

And  then  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  must  draw 
together  in  some  common  covenant,  some  genuine  and 
practical  co-operation  that  will  in  effect  combine  their 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  321 

force  to  secure  peace  and  justice  in  the  dealings  of 
nations  with  one  another.  The  brotherhood  of  mankind 
must  no  longer  be  a  fair  but  empty  phrase:  it  must  be 
given  a  structure  of  force  and  reality.  The  nations  must 
realize  their  common  life  and  effect  a  workable  partner 
ship  to  secure  that  life  against  the  aggressions  of  auto 
cratic  and  self-pleasing  power. 

For  these  things  we  can  afford  to  pour  out  blood 
and  treasure.  For  these  are  the  things  we  have  always 
professed  to  desire,  and  unless  we  pour  out  blood 
and  treasure  now  and  succeed,  we  may  never  be  able 
to  unite  or  show  conquering  force  again  in  the  great 
cause  of  human  liberty.  The  day  has  come  to  conquer 
or  submit.  If  the  forces  of  autocracy  can  divide  us, 
they  will  overcome  us;  if  we  stand  together,  victory  is 
certain  and  the  liberty  which  victory  will  secure.  We 
can  afford  then  to  be  generous,  but  we  cannot  afford 
then  or  now  to  be  weak  or  omit  any  single  guarantee 
of  justice  and  security. 

WOODKOW  WILSON. 


REPLY  TO  THE  PEACE  APPEAL  OF  THE 
POPE,  AUGUST  27,  1917 

To  His  HOLINESS  BENEDICTUS  XV,  POPE: 

In  acknowledgment  of  the  communication  of  Your 
Holiness  to  the  belligerent  peoples,  dated  August  1,  1917, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  requests  me  to  trans 
mit  the  following  reply: 

"Every  heart  that  has  not  been  blinded  and  hardened 
by  this  terrible  war  must  be  touched  by  this  moving 
appeal  of  His  Holiness  the  Pope,  must  feel  the  dignity 
and  force  of  the  humane  and  generous  motives  which 
prompted  it,  and  must  fervently  wish  that  we  might 
take  the  path  of  peace  he  so  persuasively  points  out. 
But  it  would  be  folly  to  take  it  if  it  does  not  in  fact 
lead  to  the  goal  he  proposes.  Our  response  must  be 
based  upon  the  stern  facts  and  upon  nothing  else.  It  is 
not  a  mere  cessation  of  arms  he  desires;  it  is  a  stable 
and  enduring  peace.  This  agony  must  not  be  gone 
through  with  again,  and  it  must  be  a  matter  of  very 
sober  judgment  what  will  insure  us  against  it. 

"His  Holiness  in  substance  proposes  that  we  return 
to  the  status  quo  ante  bellum,  and  that  then  there  be 
a  general  condonation,  disarmament,  and  a  concert  of 
nations  based  upon  an  acceptance  of  the  principle  of 
arbitration;  that  by  a  similar  concert  freedom  of  the 
seas  be  established;  and  that  the  territorial  claims  of 
France  and  Italy,  the  perplexing  problems  of  the  Balkan 
States,  and  the  restitution  of  Poland  be  left  to  such  con 
ciliatory  adjustments  as  may  be  possible  in  the  new 
temper  of  such  a  peace,  due  regard  being  paid  to  the 

322 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  323 

aspirations  of  the  peoples  whose  political  fortunes  and 
affiliations  will  be  involved. 

"It  is  manifest  that  no  part  of  this  program  can  be 
successfully  carried  out  unless  the  restitution  of  the 
status  quo  ante  furnishes  a  firm  and  satisfactory  basis 
for  it.  The  object  of  this  war  is  to  deliver  the  free 
peoples  of  the  world  from  the  menace  and  the  actual 
power  of  a  vast  military  establishment  controlled  by 
an  irresponsible  government  which,  having  secretly 
planned  to  dominate  the  world,  proceeded  to  carry  the 
plan  out  without  regard  either  to  the  sacred  obligations 
of  treaty  or  the  long-established  practices  and  long- 
cherished  principles  of  international  action  and  honor; 
which  chose  its  own  time  for  the  war ;  delivered  its  blow 
fiercely  and  suddenly;  stopped  at  no  barrier  either  of 
law  or  of  mercy;  swept  a  whole  continent  within  the 
tide  of  blood — not  the  blood  of  soldiers  only,  but  the 
blood  of  innocent  women  and  children  also  and  of  the 
helpless  poor;  and  now  stands  balked  but  not  defeated, 
the  enemy  of  four-fifths  of  the  world.  This  power  is 
not  the  German  people.  It  is  the  ruthless  master  of 
the  German  people.  It  is  no  business  of  ours  how 
that  great  people  came  under  its  control  or  submitted 
with  temporary  zest  to  the  domination  of  its  purpose; 
but  it  is  our  business  to  see  to  it  that  the  history  of  the 
rest  of  the  world  is  no  longer  left  to  its  handling. 

"To  deal  with  such  a  power  by  way  of  peace  upon 
the  plan  proposed  by  His  Holiness  the  Pope  would,  so 
far  as  we  can  see,  involve  a  recuperation  of  its  strength 
and  a  renewal  of  its  policy;  would  make  it  necessary  to 
create  a  permanent  hostile  combination  of  nations 
against  the  German  people,  who  are  its  instruments; 
and  would  result  in  abandoning  the  new-born  Eussia 
to  the  intrigue,  the  manifold  subtle  interference,  and 
the  certain  counter-revolution  which  would  be  attempted 


324          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

by  all  the  malign  influences  to  which  the  German  Gov 
ernment  has  of  late  accustomed  the  world.  Can  peace 
be  based  upon  a  restitution  of  its  power  or  upon  any 
word  of  honor  it  could  pledge  in  a  treaty  of  settlement 
and  accommodation'? 

11  Responsible  statesmen  must  now  everywhere  see,  if 
they  never  saw  before,  that  no  peace  can  rest  securely 
upon  political  or  economic  restrictions  meant  to  benefit 
some  nations  and  cripple  or  embarrass  others,  upon 
vindictive  action  of  any  sort,  or  any  kind  of  revenge  or 
deliberate  injury.  The  American  people  have  suffered 
intolerable  wrongs  at  the  hands  of  the  Imperial  German 
Government,  but  they  desire  no  reprisal  upon  the  Ger 
man  people,  who  have  themselves  suffered  all  things  in 
this  war,  which  they  did  not  choose.  They  believe  that 
peace  should  rest  upon  the  rights  of  peoples,  not  the 
rights  of  Governments — the  rights  of  peoples  great  or 
small,  weak  or  powerful — their  equal  right  to  freedom 
and  security  and  self-government  and  to  a  participa 
tion  upon  fair  terms  in  the  economic  opportunities  of 
the  world,  the  German  people  of  course  included  if  they 
will  accept  equality  and  not  seek  domination. 

"The  test,  therefore,  of  every  plan  of  peace  is  this: 
Is  it  based  upon  the  faith  of  all  the  peoples  involved 
or  merely  upon  the  word  of  an  ambitious  and  intriguing 
government  on  the  one  hand  and  of  a  group  of  free 
peoples,  on  the  other?  This  is  a  test  which  goes  to  the 
root  of  the  matter;  and  it  is  the  test  which  must  be 
applied. 

"The  purposes  of  the  United  States  in  this  war  are 
known  to  the  whole  world,  to  every  people  to  whom 
the  truth  has  been  permitted  to  come.  They  do  not 
need  to  be  stated  again.  We  seek  no  material  advan 
tage  of  any  kind.  We  believe  that  the  intolerable 
wrongs  done  in  this  war  by  the  furious  and  brutal  power 


325 

of  the  Imperial  German  Government  ought  to  be  re 
paired,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  the  sovereignty  of  any 
people — rather  a  vindication  of  the  sovereignty  both  of 
those  that  are  weak  and  of  those  that  are  strong.  Puni 
tive  damages,  the  dismemberment  of  empires,  the  estab 
lishment  of  selfish  and  exclusive  economic  leagues,  we 
deem  inexpedient  and  in  the  end  worse  than  futile,  no 
proper  basis  for  a  peace  of  any  kind,  least  of  all  for 
an  enduring  peace.  That  must  be  based  upon  justice 
and  fairness  and  the  common  rights  of  mankind. 

"We  cannot  take  the  word  of  the  present  rulers  of 
Germany  as  a  guarantee  of  anything  that  is  to  endure, 
unless  explicitly  supported  by  such  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  will  and  purpose  of  the  German  people  them 
selves  as  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  would  be  justi 
fied  in  accepting.  Without  such  guarantees  treaties  of 
settlement,  agreements  for  disarmament,  covenants  to 
set  up  arbitration  in  the  place  of  force,  territorial  ad 
justments,  reconstitutions  of  small  nations,  if  made  with 
the  German  Government,  no  man,  no  nation  could  now 
depend  on.  We  must  await  some  new  evidence  of  the 
purposes  of  the  great  peoples  of  the  Central  Powers. 
God  grant  it  may  be  given  soon  and  in  a  way  to  restore 
the  confidence  of  all  peoples  everywhere  in  the  faith  of 
nations  and  the  possibility  of  a  covenanted  peace. " 

EGBERT  LANSING, 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States 
of  America. 


ADDRESS    DELIVERED    BEFORE     THE 
AMERICAN  FEDERATION  OF  LABOR 
CONVENTION,  BUFFALO,  NOVEM 
BER  12,  1917 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  DELEGATES  OF  THE  AMERICAN  FEDERA 
TION  OF  LABOR,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 
I  esteem  it  a  great  privilege  and  a  real  honor  to 
be  thus  admitted  to  your  public  counsels.  When  your 
executive  committee  paid  me  the  compliment  of  inviting 
me  here  I  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  because  it 
seems  to  me  that  this,  above  all  other  times  in  our  his 
tory,  is  the  time  for  common  counsel,  for  the  drawing 
together  not  only  of  the  energies  but  of  the  minds  of  the 
Nation.  I  thought  that  it  was  a  welcome  opportunity 
for  disclosing  to  you  some  of  the  thoughts  that  have 
been  gathering  in  my  mind  during  the  last  momentous 
months. 

I  am  introduced  to  you  as  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  yet  I  would  be  pleased  if  you  would 
put  the  thought  of  the  office  into  the  background  and 
regard  me  as  one  of  your  fellow  citizens  who  has  come 
here  to  speak,  not  the  words  of  authority,  but  the  words 
of  counsel;  the  words  which  men  should  speak  to  one 
another  who  wish  to  be  frank  in  a  moment  more  critical 
perhaps  than  the  history  of  the  world  has  ever  yet 
known;  a  moment  when  it  is  every  man's  duty  to  forget 
himself,  to  forget  his  own  interests,  to  fill  himself  with 
the  nobility  of  a  great  national  and  world  conception, 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  327 

and  act  upon  a  new  platform  elevated  above  the  ordinary 
affairs  of  life  and  lifted  to  where  men  have  views  of 
the  long  destiny  of  mankind.  I  think  that  in  order  to 
realize  just  what  this  moment  of  counsel  is  it  is  very 
desirable  that  we  should  remind  ourselves  just  how  this 
war  came  about  and  just  what  it  is  for.  You  can  explain 
most  wars  very  simply,  but  the  explanation  of  this  is 
not  so  simple.  Its  roots  run  deep  into  all  the  obscure 
soils  of  history,  and  in  my  view  this  is  the  last  decisive 
issue  between  the  old  principle  of  power  and  the  new 
principle  of  freedom. 

The  war  was  started  by  Germany.  Her  authorities 
deny  that  they  started  it,  but  I  am  willing  to  let  the 
statement  I  have  just  made  await  the  verdict  of  history. 
And  the  thing  that  needs  to  be  explained  is  why  Ger 
many  started  the  war.  Remember  what  the  position  of 
Germany  in  the  world  was — as  enviable  a  position  as 
any  nation  has  ever  occupied.  The  whole  world  stood 
in  admiration  of  her  wonderful  intellectual  and  material 
achievements.  All  the  intellectual  men  of  the  world 
went  to  school  to  her.  As  a  university  man  I  have  been 
surrounded  by  men  trained  in  Germany,  men  who  had 
resorted  to  Germany  because  nowhere  else  could  they 
get  such  thorough  and  searching  training,  particularly 
in  the  principles  of  science  and  the  principles  that  under 
lie  modern  material  achievement.  Her  men  of  science 
had  made  her  industries  perhaps  the  most  competent 
industries  of  the  world,  and  the  label  "Made  in  Ger 
many"  was  a  guarantee  of  good  workmanship  and  of 
sound  material.  She  had  access  to  all  the  markets  of 
the  world,  and  every  other  nation  who  traded  in  those 


328          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

markets  feared  Germany  because  of  her  effective  and 
almost  irresistible  competition.  She  had  a  "place  in 
the  sun." 

Why  was  she  not  satisfied?  What  more  did  she 
want?  There  was  nothing  in  the  world  of  peace  that 
she  did  not  already  have  and  have  in  abundance.  We 
boast  of  the  extraordinary  pace  of  American  advance 
ment.  We  show  with  pride  the  statistics  of  the  increase 
of  our  industries  and  of  the  population  of  our  cities. 
Well,  those  statistics  did  not  match  the  recent  statistics 
of  Germany.  Her  old  cities  took  on  youth  and  grew 
faster  than  any  American  cities  ever  grew.  Her  old 
industries  opened  their  eyes  and  saw  a  new  world  and 
went  out  for  its  conquest.  And  yet  the  authorities  of 
Germany  were  not  satisfied.  You  have  one  part  of  the 
answer  to  the  question  why  she  was  not  satisfied  in 
her  methods  of  competition.  There  is  no  important 
industry  in  Germany  upon  which  the  Government  has 
not  laid  its  hands,  to  direct  it  and,  when  necessity  arose, 
control  it;  and  you  have  only  to  ask  any  man  whom 
you  meet  who  is  familiar  with  the  conditions  that  pre 
vailed  before  the  war  in  the  matter  of  national  compe 
tition  to  find  out  the  methods  of  competition  which  the 
German  manufacturers  and  exporters  used  under  the 
patronage  and  support  of  the  Government  of  Germany. 
You  will  find  that  they  were  the  same  sort  of  competi 
tion  that  we  have  tried  to  prevent  by  law  within  our 
own  borders.  If  they  could  not  sell  their  goods  cheaper 
than  we  could  sell  ours  at  a  profit  to  themselves  they 
could  get  a  subsidy  from  the  Government  which  made 
it  possible  to  sell  them  cheaper  anyhow,  and  the  condi- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  329 

tions  of  competition  were  thus  controlled  in  large  meas 
ure  by  the  German  Government  itself. 

But  that  did  not  satisfy  the  German  Government. 
All  the  while  there  was  lying  behind  its  thought  and  in 
its  dreams  of  the  future  a  political  control  which  would 
enable  it  in  the  long  run  to  dominate  the  labor  and  the 
industry  of  the  world.  They  were  not  content  with  suc 
cess  by  superior  achievement;  they  wanted  success  by 
authority.  I  suppose  very  few  of  you  have  thought 
much  about  the  Berlin-to-Bagdad  Railway.  The  Berlin- 
Bagdad  Railway  was  constructed  in  order  to  run  the 
threat  of  force  down  the  flank  of  the  industrial  under 
takings  of  half  a  dozen  other  countries;  so  that  when 
German  competition  came  in  it  would  not  be  resisted 
too  far,  because  there  was  always  the  possibility  of 
getting  German  armies  into  the  heart  of  that  country 
quicker  than  any  other  armies  could  be  got  there. 

Look  at  the  map  of  Europe  now!  Germany  in 
thrusting  upon  us  again  and  again  the  discussion  of 
peace  talks — about  what?  Talks  about  Belgium;  talks 
about  northern  France;  talks  about  Alsace-Lorraine. 
Well,  those  are  deeply  interesting  subjects  to  us  and 
to  them,  but  they  are  not  the  heart  of  the  matter. 
Take  the  map  and  look  at  it.  Germany  has  abso 
lute  control  of  Austria-Hungary,  practical  control  of 
the  Balkan  States,  control  of  Turkey,  control  of  Asia 
Minor.  I  saw  a  map  in  which  the  whole  thing  was 
printed  in  appropriate  black  the  other  day,  and 
the  black  stretched  all  the  way  from  Hamburg  to 
Bagdad — the  bulk  of  German  power  inserted  into  the 
heart  of  the  world.  If  she  can  keep  that,  she  has  kept 


330          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

all  that  her  dreams  contemplated  when  the  war  began. 
If  she  can  keep  that,  her  power  can  disturb  the  world 
as  long  as  she  keeps  it,  always  provided,  for  I  feel 
bound  to  put  this  proviso  in — always  provided  the  pres 
ent  influences  that  control  the  German  Government  con 
tinue  to  control  it.  I  believe  that  the  spirit  of  freedom 
can  get  into  the  hearts  of  Germans  and  find  as  fine  a 
welcome  there  as  it  can  find  in  any  other  hearts,  but 
the  spirit  of  freedom  does  not  suit  the  plans  of  the 
Pan-Germans.  Power  cannot  be  used  with  concentrated 
force  against  free  peoples  if  it  is  used  by  free 
people. 

You  know  how  many  intimations  come  to  us  from 
one  of  the  central  powers  that  it  is  more  anxious  for 
peace  than  the  chief  central  power,  and  you  know  that 
it  means  that  the  people  in  that  central  power  know 
that  if  the  war  ends  as  it  stands  they  will  in  effect 
themselves  be  vassals  of  Germany,  notwithstanding  that 
their  populations  are  compounded  of  all  the  peoples 
of  that  part  of  the  world,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  they  do  not  wish  in  their  pride  and  proper  spirit 
of  nationality  to  be  so  absorbed  and  dominated.  Ger 
many  is  determined  that  the  political  power  of  the 
world  shall  belong  to  her.  There  have  been  such  ambi 
tions  before.  They  have  been  in  part  realized,  but 
never  before  have  those  ambitions  been  based  upon  so 
exact  and  precise  and  scientific  a  plan  of  domination. 

May  I  not  say  that  it  is  amazing  to  me  that  any 
group  of  persons  should  be  so  ill-informed  as  to  sup 
pose,  as  some  groups  in  Russia  apparently  suppose, 
that  any  reforms  planned  in  the  interest  of  the  people 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  331 

can  live  in  the  presence  of  a  Germany  powerful  enough 
to  undermine  or  overthrow  them  by  intrigue  or  force? 
Any  body  of  free  men  that  compounds  with  the  present 
German  Government  is  compounding  for  its  own 
destruction.  But  that  is  not  the  whole  of  the  story. 
Any  man  in  America  or  anywhere  else  that  supposes 
that  the  free  industry  and  enterprise  of  the  world  can 
continue  if  the  Pan-German  plan  is  achieved  and  Ger 
man  power  fastened  upon  the  world  is  as  fatuous  as 
the  dreamers  in  Russia.  What  I  am  opposed  to  is  not 
the  feeling  of  the  pacifists,  but  their  stupidity.  My 
heart  is  with  them,  but  my  mind  has  a  contempt  for 
them.  I  want  peace,  but  I  know  how  to  get  it,  and 
they  do  not. 

You  will  notice  that  I  sent  a  friend  of  mine,  Col. 
House,  to  Europe,  who  is  as  great  a  lover  of  peace  as 
any  man  in  the  world;  but  I  didn't  send  him  on  a  peace 
mission  yet.  I  sent  him  to  take  part  in  a  conference 
as  to  how  the  war  was  to  be  won,  and  he  knows,  as  I 
know,  that  that  is  the  way  to  get  peace,  if  you  want 
it  for  more  than  a  few  minutes. 

All  of  this  is  a  preface  to  the  conference  that  I  have 
referred  to  with  regard  to  what  we  are  going  to  do. 
If  we  are  true  friends  of  freedom,  our  own  or  any 
body  else's,  we  will  see  that  the  power  of  this  country 
and  the  productivity  of  this  country  is  raised  to  its 
absolute  maximum,  and  that  absolutely  nobody  is  allowed 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  it.  When  I  say  that  nobody  is 
allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  I  do  not  mean  that  they 
shall  be  prevented  by  the  power  of  the  Government  but 
by  the  power  of  the  American  spirit.  Our  duty,  if  we 


332          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

are  to  do  this  great  thing  and  show  America  to  be 
what  we  believe  her  to  be — the  greatest  hope  and  energy 
of  the  world — is  to  stand  together  night  and  day  until 
the  job  is  finished. 

While  we  are  fighting  for  freedom  we  must  see, 
among  other  things,  that  labor  is  free;  and  that  means 
a  number  of  interesting  things.  It  means  not  only  that 
we  must  do  what  we  have  declared  our  purpose  to  do, 
see  that  the  conditions  of  labor  are  not  rendered  more 
onerous  by  the  war,  but  also  that  we  shall  see  to  it  that 
the  instrumentalities  by  which  the  conditions  of  labor 
are  improved  are  not  blocked  or  checked.  That  we 
must  do.  That  has  been  the  matter  about  which  I  have 
taken  pleasure  in  conferring  from  time  to  time  with 
your  president,  Mr.  Gompers ;  and  if  I  may  be  permitted 
to  do  so,  I  want  to  express  my  admiration  of  his  patri 
otic  courage,  his  large  vision,  and  his  statesmanlike 
sense  of  what  has  to  be  done.  I  like  to  lay  my  mind 
alongside  of  a  mind  that  knows  how  to  pull  in  harness. 
The  horses  that  kick  over  the  traces  will  have  to  be 
put  in  corral. 

Now,  to  stand  together  means  that  nobody  must 
interrupt  the  processes  of  our  energy  if  the  interrup 
tion  can  possibly  be  avoided  without  the  absolute 
invasion  of  freedom.  To  put  it  concretely,  that  means 
this:  Nobody  has  a  right  to  stop  the  processes  of  labor 
until  all  the  methods  of  conciliation  and  settlement 
have  been  exhausted.  •  And  I  might  as  well  say  right 
here  that  I  am  not  talking  to  you  alone.  You  some 
times  stop  the  courses  of  labor,  but  there  are  others 
who  do  the  same,  and  I  believe  I  am  speaking  from 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  333 

my  own  experience  not  only,  but  from  the  experi 
ence  of  others,  when  I  say  that  you  are  reasonable  in 
a  larger  number  of  cases  than  the  capitalists.  I  am  not 
saying  these  things  to  them  personally  yet,  because  I 
have  not  had  a  chance,  but  they  have  to  be  said,  not  in 
any  spirit  of  criticism,  but  in  order  to  clear  the  atmos 
phere  and  come  down  to  business.  Everybody  on  both 
sides  has  now  got  to  transact  business,  and  a  settlement 
is  never  impossible  when  both  sides  want  to  do  the 
square  and  right  thing. 

Moreover,  a  settlement  is  always  hard  to  avoid  when 
the  parties  can  be  brought  face  to  face.  I  can  differ 
from  a  man  much  more  radically  when  he  is  not  in  the 
room  than  I  can  when  he  is  in  the  room,  because  then 
the  awkward  thing  is  he  can  come  back  at  me  and  answer 
what  I  say.  It  is  always  dangerous  for  a  man  to  have 
the  floor  entirely  to  himself.  Therefore,  we  must  insist 
in  every  instance  that  the  parties  come  into  each  other's 
presence  and  there  discuss  the  issues  between  them  and 
not  separately  in  places  which  have  no  communication 
with  each  other.  I  always  like  to  remind  myself  of  a 
delightful  saying  of  an  Englishman  of  the  past  gener 
ation,  Charles  Lamb.  He  stuttered  a  little  bit,  and  once 
when  he  was  with  a  group  of  friends  he  spoke  very 
harshly  of  some  man  who  was  not  present.  One  of  his 
friends  said:  "Why,  Charles,  I  didn't  know  that  you 
knew  so  and  so."  "O-o-oh,"  he  said,  "I-I  d-d-don 't; 
I-I  can't  h-h-hate  a  m-m-man  I-I  know."  There  is  a 
great  deal  of  human  nature,  of  very  pleasant  human 
nature,  in  the  saying.  It  is  hard  to  hate  a  man  you 
know.  I  may  admit,  parenthetically,  that  there  are 


334          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

some  politicians  whose  methods  I  do  not  at  all  believe 
in,  but  they  are  jolly  good  fellows,  and  if  they  only 
would  not  talk  the  wrong  kind  of  politics,  I  would  love 
to  be  with  them. 

So  it  is  all  along  the  line,  in  serious  matters  and 
things  less  serious.  We  are  all  of  the  same  clay  and 
spirit,  and  we  can  get  together  if  we  desire  to  get 
together.  Therefore,  my  counsel  to  you  is  this:  Let  us 
show  ourselves  Americans  by  showing  that  we  do  not 
want  to  go  off  in  separate  camps  or  groups  by  our 
selves,  but  that  we  want  to  co-operate  with  all  other 
classes  and  all  other  groups  in  the  common  enterprise 
which  is  to  release  the  spirits  of  the  world  from  bondage. 
I  would  be  willing  to  set  that  up  as  the  final  test  of 
an  American.  That  is  the  meaning  of  democracy.  I 
have  been  very  much  distressed,  my  fellow  citizens,  by 
some  of  the  things  that  have  happened  recently.  The 
mob  spirit  is  displaying  itself  here  and  there  in  this 
country.  I  have  no  sympathy  with  what  some  men  are 
saying,  but  I  have  no  sympathy  with  the  men  who  take 
their  punishment  into  their  own  hands;  and  I  want  to 
say  to  every  man  who  does  join  such  a  mob  that  I  do 
not  recognize  him  as  worthy  of  the  free  institutions  of 
the  United  States.  There  are  some  organizations  in  this 
country  whose  object  is  anarchy  and  the  destruction  of 
law,  but  I  would  not  meet  their  efforts  by  making 
myself  partner  in  destroying  the  law.  I  despise  and 
hate  their  purposes  as  much  as  any  man,  but  I  respect 
the  ancient  processes  of  justice;  and  I  would  be  too 
proud  not  to  see  them  done  justice,  however  wrong 
they  are. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  335 

So  I  want  to  utter  my  earnest  protest  against  any 
manifestation  of  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  anywhere  or 
in  any  cause.  Why,  gentlemen,  look  what  it  means. 
We  claim  to  be  the  greatest  democratic  people  in  the 
world,  and  democracy  means  first  of  all  that  we  can 
govern  ourselves.  If  our  men  have  not  self-control,  then 
they  are  not  capable  of  that  great  thing  which  we  call 
democratic  government.  A  man  who  takes  the  law  into 
his  own  hands  is  not  the  right  man  to  co-operate  in  any 
formation  or  development  of  law  and  institutions,  and 
some  of  the  processes  by  which  the  struggle  between 
capital  and  labor  is  carried  on  are  processes  that  come 
very  near  to  taking  the  law  into  your  own  hands.  I  do 
not  mean  for  a  moment  to  compare  them  with  what  I 
have  just  been  speaking  of,  but  I  want  you  to  see  that 
they  are  mere  gradations  in  this  manifestation  of  the 
unwillingness  to  co-operate,  and  that  the  fundamental 
lesson  of  the  whole  situation  is  that  we  must  not  only 
take  common  counsel,  but  that  we  must  yield  to  and 
obey  common  counsel.  Not  all  of  the  instrumentalities 
for  this  are  at  hand.  I  am  hopeful  that  in  the  very 
near  future  new  instrumentalities  may  be  organized 
by  which  we  can  see  to  it  that  various  things  that  are 
now  going  on  ought  not  to  go  on.  'There  are  various 
processes  of  the  dilution  of  labor  and  the  unnecessary 
substitution  of  labor  and  the  bidding  in  distant  markets 
and  unfairly  upsetting  the  whole  competition  of  labor 
which  ought  not  to  go  on.  I  mean  now  on  the  part  of 
employers,  and  we  must  interject  some  instrumentality 
of  co-operation  by  which  the  fair  thing  will  be  done 
all  around.  I  am  hopeful  that  some  such  instrumen- 


336          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

talities  may  be  devised,  but  whether  they  are  or  not, 
we  must  use  those  that  we  have  and  upon  every  occasion 
where  it  is  necessary  have  such  an  instrumentality 
originated  upon  that  occasion. 

So,  my  fellow  citizens,  the  reason  I  came  away  from 
Washington  is  that  I  sometimes  get  lonely  down  there. 
So  many  people  come  to  Washington  who  know  things 
that  are  not  so,  and  so  few  people  who  know  anything 
about  what  the  people  of  the  United  States  are  think 
ing  about.  I  have  to  come  away  and  get  reminded 
of  the  rest  of  the  country.  I  have  to  come  away  and 
talk  to  men  who  are  up  against  the  real  thing,  and 
say  to  them,  "I  am  with  you  if  you  are  with  me." 
And  the  only  test  of  being  with  me  is  not  to  think 
about  me  personally  at  all,  but  merely  to  think  of  me 
as  the  expression  for  the  time  being  of  the  power  and 
dignity  and  hope  of  the  United  States. 


TELEGRAM  TO  THE  NORTHWEST  LOYALTY 

MEETINGS,  ST.  PAUL,  MINN., 

NOVEMBER  16,  1917 

Northwest  Loyalty  Meetings, 

St.  Paul,  Minn., 
R.  W.  HARGADINE,  Secretary. 

Nothing  could  be  more  significant  than  your  gather 
ing  to  express  the  loyalty  of  the  Great  Northwest.  If  it 
were  possible  I  should  gladly  be  with  you.  You  have 
come  together  as  the  representatives  of  that  Western 
Empire  in  which  the  sons  of  all  sections  of  America 
and  the  stocks  of  all  the  nations  of  Europe  have  made 
the  prairie  and  the  forest  the  home  of  a  new  race  and 
the  temple  of  a  new  faith. 

The  time  has  come  when  that  home  must  be  protected 
and  that  faith  affirmed  in  deeds.  Sacrifice  and  service 
must  come  from  every  class,  every  profession,  every 
party,  every  race,  every  creed,  every  section.  This  is 
not  a  banker's  war  or  a  farmer's  war  or  a  manufac 
turer's  war  or  a  laboring  man's  war — it  is  a  war  for 
every  straight-out  American  whether  our  flag  be  his 
by  birth  or  by  adoption. 

We  are  to-day  a  Nation  in  arms  and  we  must  fight 
and  farm,  mine  and  manufacture,  conserve  food  and 
fuel,  save  and  spend  to  the  one  common  purpose.  It  is 
to  the  Great  Northwest  that  the  Nation  looks,  as  once 
before  in  critical  days,  for  that  steadiness  of  purpose 
and  firmness  of  determination  which  shall  see  this 
struggle  through  to  a  decision  that  shall  make  the 
masters  of  Germany  rue  the  day  they  unmasked  their 
purpose  and  challenged  our  Republic. 

337 


TELEGRAM  TO  THE  KING  OF  THE 
BELGIANS,  NOVEMBER  17,  1917 

His  MAJESTY  ALBEKT, 

King  of  the  Belgians,  Havre. 

I  take  pleasure  in  extending  to  Your  Majesty  greet 
ings  of  friendship  and  good  will  on  this  your  fete  day. 

For  the  people  of  the  United  States,  I  take  this 
occasion  to  renew  expressions  of  deep  sympathy  for  the 
sufferings  which  Belgium  has  endured  under  the  willful, 
cruel,  and  barbaric  force  of  a  disappointed  Prussian 
autocracy. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  were  never  more 
in  earnest  than  in  their  determination  to  prosecute  to  a 
successful  conclusion  this  war  against  that  power  and 
to  secure  for  the  future,  obedience  to  the  laws  of  nations 
and  respect  for  the  rights  of  humanity. 


338 


ADDRESS  RECOMMENDING  THE  DECLARA 
TION  OF  A  STATE  OF  WAR  BETWEEN 
THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  THE  AUS- 
TRO-HUNGARIAN  GOVERNMENT, 
DELIVERED  AT  A  JOINT  SES 
SION  OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES 
OF   THE   CONGRESS, 
DECEMBER  4,  1917 

In  his  address  to  the  Congress  of  April  2,  1917,  President  Wilson  referred 
to  the  grievances  which  this  country  had  against  the  Austro-Hungarian  Govern 
ment,  and  stated  that  "  that  Government  has  not  actually  engaged  in  warfare 
against  citizens  of  the  United  States  on  the  seas,  and  I  take  the  liberty,  for  the 
present  at  least,  of  postponing  a  discussion  of  our  relations  with  the  authorities 
at  Vienna.  We  enter  this  war  only  where  we  are  clearly  forced  into  it  because 
there  are  no  other  means  of  defending  our  rights."  As,  however,  events  proved, 
in  the  language  of  the  Austrian  poet,  Friedrich  Halm,  that  Germany  and  Austria- 
Hungary  are 

"  Two  souls  with  but  a  single  thought, 
Two  hearts  that  beat  as  one," 

the  President  reluctantly  reached  the  conclusion  that  a  state  of  war  should  be 
declared  to  exist  between  the  United  States  and  the  Austro-Hungarian  Govern 
ment.     He  therefore  recommended  it  in  his  address  to  the  Congress  of  December 
4th,  and  on  December  7th  that  body  gave  effect  to  his  recommendation  as  follows: 
"  Whereas,  The  Imperial  and  Royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government  has 
committed  repeated  acts  of  war  against  the  Government  and  the  people  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  therefore  be  it 

"  Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  a  state  of  war  is  hereby  de 
clared  to  exist  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Imperial  and 
Royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government,  and  that  the  President  be  and  he  is 
hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to  employ  the  entire  naval  and  military 
forces  of  the  United  States  and  resources  of  the  Government  to  carry  on  war 
against  the  Imperial  and  Royal  Austro-Hungarian  Government;  and  to  bring 
the  conflict  to  a  successful  termination  all  the  resources  of  the  country  are 
hereby  pledged  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

GEXTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS  : 

Eight  months  have  elapsed  since  I  last  had  the  honor 
of  addressing  you.  They  have  been  months  crowded 


340          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

with  events  of  immense  and  grave  significance  for  us.  I 
shall  not  undertake  to  retail  or  even  to  summarize  those 
events.  The  practical  particulars  of  the  part  we  have 
played  in  them  will  be  laid  before  you  in  the  reports  of 
the  Executive  Departments.  I  shall  discuss  only  our 
present  outlook  upon  these  vast  affairs,  our  present 
duties,  and  the  immediate  means  of  accomplishing  the 
objects  we  shall  hold  always  in  view. 

I  shall  not  go  back  to  debate  the  causes  of  the  war. 
The  intolerable  wrongs  done  and  planned  against  us  by 
the  sinister  masters  of  Germany  have  long  since  become 
too  grossly  obvious  and  odious  to  every  true  American 
to  need  to  be  rehearsed.  But  I  shall  ask  you  to  consider 
again  and  with  a  very  grave  scrutiny  our  objectives  and 
the  measures  by  which  we  mean  to  attain  them;  for  the 
purpose  of  discussion  here  in  this  place  is  action,  and 
our  action  must  move  straight  towards  definite  ends. 
Our  object  is,  of  course,  to  win  the  war;  and  we  shall 
not  slacken  or  suffer  ourselves  to  be  diverted  until  it  is 
won.  But  it  is  worth  while  asking  and  answering  the 
question,  When  shall  we  consider  the  war  won'? 

From  one  point  of  view  it  is  not  necessary  to  broach 
this  fundamental  matter.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the 
American  people  know  what  the  war  is  about  and  what 
sort  of  an  outcome  they  will  regard  as  a  realization  of 
their  purpose  in  it.  As  a  nation  we  are  united  in  spirit 
and  intention.  I  pay  little  heed  to  those  who  tell  me 
otherwise.  I  hear  the  voices  of  dissent, — who  does  not? 
I  hear  the  criticism  and  the  clamor  of  the  noisily 
thoughtless  and  troublesome.  I  also  see  men  here  and 
there  fling  themselves  in  impotent  disloyalty  against  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  341 

calm,  indomitable  power  of  the  nation.  I  hear  men 
debate  peace  who  understand  neither  its  nature  nor  the 
way  in  which  we  may  attain  it  with  uplifted  eyes  and 
unbroken  spirits.  But  I  know  that  none  of  these  speaks 
for  the  nation.  They  do  not  touch  the  heart  of  any 
thing.  They  may  safely  be  left  to  strut  their  uneasy 
hour  and  be  forgotten. 

But  from  another  point  of  view  I  believe  that  it  is 
necessary  to  say  plainly  what  we  here  at  the  seat  of 
action  consider  the  war  to  be  for  and  what  part  we  mean 
to  play  in  the  settlement  of  its  searching  issues.  We  are 
the  spokesmen  of  the  American  people  and  they  have  a 
right  to  know  whether  their  purpose  is  ours.  They  de 
sire  peace  by  the  overcoming  of  evil,  by  the  defeat  once 
for  all  of  the  sinister  forces  that  interrupt  peace  and 
render  it  impossible,  and  they  wish  to  know  how  closely 
our  thought  runs  with  theirs  and  what  action  we  pro 
pose.  They  are  impatient  with  those  who  desire  peace 
by  any  sort  of  compromise, — deeply  and  indignantly  im 
patient, — but  they  will  be  equally  impatient  with  us  if 
we  do  not  make  it  plain  to  them  what  our  objectives  are 
and  what  we  are  planning  for  in  seeking  to  make  con 
quest  of  peace  by  arms. 

I  believe  that  I  speak  for  them  when  I  say  two 
things:  First,  that  this  intolerable  Thing  of  which  the 
masters  of  Germany  have  shown  us  the  ugly  face,  this 
menace  of  combined  intrigue  and  force  which  we  now  see 
so  clearly  as  the  German  power,  a  Thing  without  con 
science  or  honor  or  capacity  for  covenanted  peace,  must 
be  crushed  and,  if  it  be  not  utterly  brought  to  an  end,  at 
least  shut  out  from  the  friendly  intercourse  of  the  na- 


342          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

tions;  and,  second,  that  when  this  Thing  and  its  power 
are  indeed  defeated  and  the  time  comes  that  we  can  dis 
cuss  peace, — when  the  German  people  have  spokesmen 
whose  word  we  can  believe  and  when  those  spokesmen 
are  ready  in  the  name  of  their  people  to  accept  the  com 
mon  judgment  of  the  nations  as  to  what  shall  henceforth 
be  the  bases  of  law  and  of  covenant  for  the  life  of  the 
world, — we  shall  be  willing  and  glad  to  pay  the  full 
price  for  peace,  and  pay  it  ungrudgingly.  We  know 
what  that  price  will  be.  It  will  be  full,  impartial  jus 
tice, — justice  done  at  every  point  and  to  every  nation 
that  the  final  settlement  must  affect,  our  enemies  as  well 
as  our  friends. 

You  catch,  with  me,  the  voices  of  humanity  that  are 
in  the  air.  They  grow  daily  more  audible,  more  articu 
late,  more  persuasive,  and  they  come  from  the  hearts  of 
men  everywhere.  They  insist  that  the  war  shall  not  end 
in  vindictive  action  of  any  kind ;  that  no  nation  or  peo 
ple  shall  be  robbed  or  punished  because  the  irresponsible 
rulers  of  a  single  country  have  themselves  done  deep 
and  abominable  wrong.  It  is  this  thought  that  has  been 
expressed  in  the  formula  "No  annexations,  no  contribu 
tions,  no  punitive  indemnities."  Just  because  this  crude 
formula  expresses  the  instinctive  judgment  as  to  right 
of  plain  men  everywhere  it  has  been  made  diligent  use 
of  by  the  masters  of  German  intrigue  to  lead  the  people 
of  Russia  astray — and  the  people  of  every  other  country 
their  agents  could  reach,  in  order  that  a  premature  peace 
might  be  brought  about  before  autocracy  has  been  taught 
its  final  and  convincing  lesson,  and  the  people  of  the 
world  put  in  control  of  their  own  destinies. 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  343 

But  the  fact  that  a  wrong  use  has  been  made  of  a  just 
idea  is  no  reason  why  a  right  use  should  not  be  made 
of  it.  It  ought  to  be  brought  under  the  patronage  of  its 
real  friends.  Let  it  be  said  again  that  autocracy  must 
first  be  shown  the  utter  futility  of  its  claims  to  power  or 
leadership  in  the  modern  world.  It  is  impossible  to 
apply  any  standard  of  justice  so  long  as  such  forces  are 
unchecked  and  undefeated  as  the  present  masters  of  Ger 
many  command.  Not  until  that  has  been  done  can  Eight 
be  set  up  as  arbiter  and  peace-maker  among  the  nations. 
But  when  that  has  been  done, — as,  God  willing,  it  as 
suredly  will  be, — we  shall  at  last  be  free  to  do  an  un 
precedented  thing,  and  this  is  the  time  to  avow  our 
purpose  to  do  it.  We  shall  be  free  to  base  peace 
on  generosity  and  justice,  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
selfish  claims  to  advantage  even  on  the  part  of  the 
victors. 

Let  there  be  no  misunderstanding.  Our  present  and 
immediate  task  is  to  win  the  war,  and  nothing  shall  turn 
us  aside  from  it  until  it  is  accomplished.  Every  power 
and  resource  we  possess,  whether  of  men,  of  money,  or 
of  materials,  is  being  devoted  and  will  continue  to  be 
devoted  to  that  purpose  until  it  is  achieved.  Those  who 
desire  to  bring  peace  about  before  that  purpose  is 
achieved  I  counsel  to  carry  their  advice  elsewhere.  We 
will  not  entertain  it.  We  shall  regard  the  war  as  won 
only  when  the  German  people  say  to  us,  through  properly 
accredited  representatives,  that  they  are  ready  to  agree 
to  a  settlement  based  upon  justice  and  the  reparation  of 
the  wrongs  their  rulers  have  done.  They  have  done  a 
wrong  to  Belgium  which  must  be  repaired.  They  have 


344          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

established  a  power  over  other  lands  and  peoples  than 
their  own, — over  the  great  Empire  of  Austria-Hungary, 
over  hitherto  free  Balkan  states,  over  Turkey,  and  within 
Asia, — which  must  be  relinquished. 

Germany's  success  by  skill,  by  industry,  by  knowl 
edge,  by  enterprise  we  did  not  grudge  or  oppose,  but 
admired,  rather.  She  had  built  up  for  herself  a  real 
empire  of  trade  and  influence,  secured  by  the  peace  of 
the  world.  We  were  content  to  abide  the  rivalries  of 
manufacture,  science,  and  commerce  that  were  involved 
for  us  in  her  success  and  stand  or  fall  as  we  had  or  did 
not  have  the  brains  and  the  initiative  to  surpass  her. 
But  at  the  moment  when  she  had  conspicuously  won  her 
triumphs  of  peace  she  threw  them  away,  to  establish  in 
their  stead  what  the  world  will  no  longer  permit  to  be 
established,  military  and  political  domination  by  arms, 
by  which  to  oust  where  she  could  not  excel  the  rivals  she 
most  feared  and  hated.  The  peace  we  make  must  remedy 
that  wrong.  It  must  deliver  the  once  fair  lands  and 
happy  peoples  of  Belgium  and  northern  France  from  the 
Prussian  conquest  and  the  Prussian  menace,  but  it  must 
also  deliver  the  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  the  peo 
ples  of  the  Balkans,  and  the  peoples  of  Turkey,  alike 
in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  from  the  impudent  and  alien 
dominion  of  the  Prussian  military  and  commercial 
autocracy. 

We  owe  it,  however,  to  ourselves  to  say  that  we  do 
not  wish  in  any  way  to  impair  or  to  rearrange  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Empire.  It  is  no  affair  of  ours  what 
they  do  with  their  own  life,  either  industrially  or  politi 
cally.  We  do  not  purpose  or  desire  to  dictate  to  them  in 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  345 

any  way.  "We  only  desire  to  see  that  their  affairs  are 
left  in  their  own  hands,  in  all  matters,  great  or  small. 
We  shall  hope  to  secure  for  the  peoples  of  the  Balkan 
peninsula  and  for  the  people  of  the  Turkish  Empire  the 
right  and  opportunity  to  make  their  own  lives  safe,  their 
own  fortunes  secure  against  oppression  or  injustice  and 
from  the  dictation  of  foreign  courts  or  parties. 

And  our  attitude  and  purpose  with  regard  to  Ger 
many  herself  are  of  a  like  kind.  "We  intend  no  wrong 
against  the  German  Empire,  no  interference  with  her  in 
ternal  affairs.  We  should  deem  either  the  one  or  the 
other  absolutely  unjustifiable,  absolutely  contrary  to  the 
principles  we  have  professed  to  live  by  and  to  hold  most 
sacred  throughout  our  life  as  a  nation. 

The  people  of  Germany  are  being  told  by  the  men 
whom  they  now  permit  to  deceive  them  and  to  act  as 
their  masters  that  they  are  fighting  for  the  very  life 
and  existence  of  their  Empire,  a  war  of  desperate  self- 
defense  against  deliberate  aggression.  Nothing  could 
be  more  grossly  or  wantonly  false,  and  we  must  seek  by 
the  utmost  openness  and  candor  as  to  our  real  aims  to 
convince  them  of  its  falseness.  "We  are  in  fact  fighting 
for  their  emancipation  from  fear,  along  with  our  own, — 
from  the  fear  as  well  as  from  the  fact  of  unjust  attack 
by  neighbors  or  rivals  or  schemers  after  world  empire. 
No  one  is  threatening  the  existence  or  the  independence 
or  the  peaceful  enterprise  of  the  German  Empire. 

The  worst  that  can  happen  to  the  detriment  of  the 
German  people  is  this,  that  if  they  should  still,  after 
the  war  is  over,  continue  to  be  obliged  to  live  under  am 
bitious  and  intriguing  masters  interested  to  disturb  the 


346          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

peace  of  the  world,  men  or  classes  of  men  whom  the 
other  peoples  of  the  world  could  not  trust,  it  might  be 
\  impossible  to  admit  them  to  the  partnership  of  nations 
which  must  henceforth  guarantee  the  world's  peace. 
That  partnership  must  be  a  partnership  of  peoples,  not 
a  mere  partnership  of  governments.  It  might  be  impos 
sible,  also,  in  such  untoward  circumstances,  to  admit 
Germany  to  the  free  economic  intercourse  which  must 
inevitably  spring  out  of  the  other  partnerships  of  a  real 
peace.  But  there  would  be  no  aggression  in  that;  and 
such  a  situation,  inevitable  because  of  distrust,  would 
in  the  very  nature  of  things  sooner  or  later  cure  itself, 
by  processes  which  would  assuredly  set  in. 

The  wrongs,  the  very  deep  wrongs,  committed  in  this 
war  will  have  to  be  righted.  That  of  course.  But  they 
cannot  and  must  not  be  righted  by  the  commission  of 
similar  wrongs  against  Germany  and  her  allies.  The 
world  will  not  permit  the  commission  of  similar  wrongs 
as  a  means  of  reparation  and  settlement.  Statesmen 
must  by  this  time  have  learned  that  the  opinion  of  the 
world  is  everywhere  wide  awake  and  fully  comprehends 
the  issues  involved.  No  representative  of  any  self- 
governed  nation  will  dare  disregard  it  by  attempting 
any  such  covenants  of  selfishness  and  compromise  as 
were  entered  into  at  the  Congress  of  Vienna.  The 
thought  of  the  plain  people  here  and  everywhere 
throughout  the  world,  the  people  who  enjoy  no  privilege 
and  have  very  simple  and  unsophisticated  standards  of 
right  and  wrong,  is  the  air  all  governments  must  hence 
forth  breathe  if  they  would  live.  It  is  in  the  full  dis 
closing  light  of  that  thought  that  all  policies  must  be 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  347 

conceived  and  executed  in  this  midday  hour  of  the 
world's  life.  German  rulers  have  been  able  to  upset  the 
peace  of  the  world  only  because  the  German  people  were 
not  suffered  under  their  tutelage  to  share  the  comrade 
ship  of  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  either  in  thought 
or  in  purpose.  They  were  allowed  to  have  no  opinion 
of  their  own  which  might  be  set  up  as  a  rule  of  conduct 
for  those  who  exercised  authority  over  them.  But  the 
congress  that  concludes  this  war  will  feel  the  full 
strength  of  the  tides  that  run  now  in  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  free  men  everywhere.  Its  conclusion  will 
run  with  those  tides. 

All  these  things  have  been  true  from  the  very  begin 
ning  of  this  stupendous  war ;  and  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  if  they  had  been  made  plain  at  the  very  outset  the 
sympathy  and  enthusiasm  of  the  Russian  people  might 
have  been  once  for  all  enlisted  on  the  side  of  the  Allies, 
suspicion  and  distrust  swept  away,  and  a  real  and  last 
ing  union  of  purpose  effected.  Had  they  believed  these 
things  at  the  very  moment  of  their  revolution  and  had 
they  been  confirmed  in  that  belief  since,  the  sad  reverses 
which  have  recently  marked  the  progress  of  their  affairs 
towards  an  ordered  and  stable  government  of  free  men 
might  have  been  avoided.  The  Russian  people  have  been 
poisoned  by  the  very  same  falsehoods  that  have  kept  the 
German  people  in  the  dark,  and  the  poison  has  been  ad 
ministered  by  the  very  same  hands.  The  only  possible 
antidote  is  the  truth.  It  cannot  be  uttered  too  plainly 
or  too  often. 

From  every  point  of  view,  therefore,  it  has  seemed 
to  be  my  duty  to  speak  these  declarations  of  purpose,  to 


348          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

add  these  specific  interpretations  to  what  I  took  the  lib 
erty  of  saying  to  the  Senate  in  January.  Our  entrance 
into  the  war  has  not  altered  our  attitude  towards  the 
settlement  that  must  come  when  it  is  over.  When  I  said 
in  January  that  the  nations  of  the  world  were  entitled 
not  only  to  free  pathways  upon  the  sea  but  also  to  as 
sured  and  unmolested  access  to  those  pathways  I  was 
thinking,  and  I  am  thinking  now,  not  of  the  smaller  and 
weaker  nations  alone,  which  need  our  countenance  and 
support,  but  also  of  the  great  and  powerful  nations, 
and  of  our  present  enemies  as  well  as  our  present  asso 
ciates  in  the  war.  I  was  thinking,  and  am  thinking 
now,  of  Austria  herself,  among  the  rest,  as  well  as  of 
Serbia  and  of  Poland.  Justice  and  equality  of  rights 
can  be  had  only  at  a  great  price.  "We  are  seeking 
permanent,  not  temporary,  foundations  for  the  peace 
of  the  world  and  must  seek  them  candidly  and  fear 
lessly.  As  always,  the  right  will  prove  to  be  the 
expedient. 

What  shall  we  do,  then,  to  push  this  great  war  of 
freedom  and  justice  to  its  righteous  conclusion?  We 
must  clear  away  with  a  thorough  hand  all  impediments 
to  success  and  we  must  make  every  adjustment  of  law 
that  will  facilitate  the  full  and  free  use  of  our  whole 
capacity  and  force  as  a  fighting  unit. 

One  very  embarrassing  obstacle  that  stands  in  our 
way  is  that  we  are  at  war  with  Germany  but  not  with 
her  allies.  I  therefore  very  earnestly  recommend  that 
the  Congress  immediately  declare  the  United  States  in  a 
state  of  war  with  Austria-Hungary.  Does  it  seem 
strange  to  you  that  this  should  be  the  conclusion  of  the 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  349 

argument  I  have  just  addressed  to  you?  It  is  not.  It  is 
in  fact  the  inevitable  logic  of  what  I  have  said.  Austria- 
Hungary  is  for  the  time  being  not  her  own  mistress  but 
simply  the  vassal  of  the  German  Government.  We  must 
face  the  facts  as  they  are  and  act  upon  them  without 
sentiment  in  this  stern  business.  The  government  of 
Austria-Hungary  is  not  acting  upon  its  own  initiative 
or  in  response  to  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  its  own  peo 
ples  but  as  the  instrument  of  another  nation.  We  must 
meet  its  force  with  our  own  and  regard  the  Central 
Powers  as  but  one.  The  war  can  be  successfully  con 
ducted  in  no  other  way.  The  same  logic  would  lead 
also  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  Turkey  and  Bul 
garia.  They  also  are  the  tools  of  Germany.  But  they 
are  mere  tools  and  do  not  yet  stand  in  the  direct  path  of 
our  necessary  action.  We  shall  go  wherever  the  necessi 
ties  of  this  war  carry  us,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  we 
should  go  only  where  immediate  and  practical  considera 
tions  lead  us  and  not  heed  any  others. 

The  financial  and  military  measures  which  must  be 
adopted  will  suggest  themselves  as  the  war  and  its  under 
takings  develop,  but  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  proposing 
to  you  certain  other  acts  of  legislation  which  seem  to  me 
to  be  needed  for  the  support  of  the  war  and  for  the 
release  of  our  whole  force  and  energy. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  extend  in  certain  particulars 
the  legislation  of  the  last  session  with  regard  to  alien 
enemies ;  and  also  necessary,  I  believe,  to  create  a  very 
definite  and  particular  control  over  the  entrance  and 
departure  of  all  persons  into  and  from  the  United 
States. 


350          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Legislation  should  be  enacted  defining  as  a  criminal 
offense  every  willful  violation  of  the  presidential  procla 
mations  relating  to  alien  enemies  promulgated  under 
section  4067  of  the  Eevised  Statutes  and  providing  ap 
propriate  punishments ;  and  women  as  well  as  men  should 
be  included  under  the  terms  of  the  acts  placing  restraints 
upon  alien  enemies.  It  is  likely  that  as  time  goes  on 
many  alien  enemies  will  be  willing  to  be  fed  and  housed 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government  in  the  detention  camps 
and  it  would  be  the  purpose  of  the  legislation  I  have 
suggested  to  confine  offenders  among  them  in  penitenti 
aries  and  other  similar  institutions  where  they  could  be 
made  to  work  as  other  criminals  do. 

Recent  experience  has  convinced  me  that  the  Con 
gress  must  go  further  in  authorizing  the  Government  to 
set  limits  to  prices.  The  law  of  supply  and  demand,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  has  been  replaced  by  the  law  of  unre 
strained  selfishness.  While  we  have  eliminated  profiteer 
ing  in  several  branches  of  industry  it  still  runs  impu 
dently  rampant  in  others.  The  farmers,  for  example, 
complain  with  a  great  deal  of  justice  that,  while  the 
regulation  of  food  prices  restricts  their  incomes,  no  re 
straints  are  placed  upon  the  prices  of  most  of  the  things 
they  must  themselves  purchase;  and  similar  inequities 
obtain  on  all  sides. 

It  is  imperatively  necessary  that  the  consideration 
of  the  full  use  of  the  water  power  of  the  country  and 
also  the  consideration  of  the  systematic  and  yet  economi 
cal  development  of  such  of  the  natural  resources  of  the 
country  as  are  still  under  the  control  of  the  federal  gov 
ernment  should  be  immediately  resumed  and  affirma- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  351 

tively  and  constructively  dealt  with  at  the  earliest  pos 
sible  moment.  The  pressing  need  of  such  legislation  is 
daily  becoming  more  obvious. 

The  legislation  proposed  at  the  last  session  with  re 
gard  to  regulated  combinations  among  our  exporters,  in 
order  to  provide  for  our  foreign  trade  a  more  effective 
organization  and  method  of  co-operation,  ought  by  all 
means  to  be  completed  at  this  session. 

And  I  beg  that  the  members  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  will  permit  me  to  express  the  opinion  that  it 
will  be  impossible  to  deal  in  any  but  a  very  wasteful 
and  extravagant  fashion  with  the  enormous  appropria 
tions  of  the  public  moneys  which  must  continue  to  be 
made,  if  the  war  is  to  be  properly  sustained,  unless  the 
House  will  consent  to  return  to  its  former  practice  of 
initiating  and  preparing  all  appropriation  bills  through 
a  single  committee,  in  order  that  responsibility  may  be 
centered,  expenditures  standardized  and  made  uni 
form,  and  waste  and  duplication  as  much  as  possible 
avoided. 

Additional  legislation  may  also  become  necessary  be 
fore  the  present  Congress  again  adjourns  in  order  to 
effect  the  most  efficient  co-ordination  and  operation  of 
the  railway  and  other  transportation  systems  of  the 
country ;  but  to  that  I  shall,  if  circumstances  should  de 
mand,  call  the  attention  of  the  Congress  upon  another 
occasion. 

If  I  have  overlooked  anything  that  ought  to  be  done 
for  the  more  effective  conduct  of  the  war,  your  own 
counsels  will  supply  the  omission.  What  I  am  per 
fectly  clear  about  is  that  in  the  present  session  of  the 


352          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Congress  our  whole  attention  and  energy  should  be  con 
centrated  on  the  vigorous,  rapid,  and  successful  prosecu 
tion  of  the  great  task  of  winning  the  war. 

We  can  do  this  with  all  the  greater  zeal  and  enthusi 
asm  because  we  know  that  for  us  this  is  a  war  of  high 
principle,  debased  by  no  selfish  ambition  of  conquest  or 
spoliation;  because  we  know,  and  all  the  world  knows, 
that  we  have  been  forced  into  it  to  save  the  very  institu 
tions  we  live  under  from  corruption  and  destruction. 
The  purposes  of  the  Central  Powers  strike  straight  at 
the  very  heart  of  everything  we  believe  in;  their  meth 
ods  of  warfare  outrage  every  principle  of  humanity  and 
of  knightly  honor ;  their  intrigue  has  corrupted  the  very 
thought  and  spirit  of  many  of  our  people ;  their  sinister 
and  secret  diplomacy  has  sought  to  take  our  very  terri 
tory  away  from  us  and  disrupt  the  Union  of  the  States. 
Our  safety  would  be  at  an  end,  our  honor  forever  sullied 
and  brought  into  contempt  were  we  to  permit  their 
triumph.  They  are  striking  at  the  very  existence  of 
democracy  and  liberty. 

It  is  because  it  is  for  us  a  war  of  high,  disinterested 
purpose,  in  which  all  the  free  peoples  of  the  world  are 
banded  together  for  the  vindication  of  right,  a  war  for 
the  preservation  of  our  nation  and  of  all  that  it  has  held 
dear  of  principle  and  of  purpose,  that  we  feel  ourselves 
doubly  constrained  to  propose  for  its  outcome  only  that 
which  is  righteous  and  of  irreproachable  intention,  for 
our  foes  as  well  as  for  our  friends.  The  cause  being 
just  and  holy,  the  settlement  must  be  of  like  motive 
and  quality.  For  this  we  can  fight,  but  for  nothing  less 
noble  or  less  worthy  of  our  traditions.  For  this  cause 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  353 

we  enter  the  war  and  for  this  cause  will  we  battle  until 
the  last  gun  is  fired. 

I  have  spoken  plainly  because  this  seems  to  me  the 
time  when  it  is  most  necessary  to  speak  plainly,  in  order 
that  all  the  world  may  know  that  even  in  the  heat  and 
ardor  of  the  struggle  and  when  our  whole  thought  is  of 
carrying  the  war  through  to  its  end  we  have  not  forgot 
ten  any  ideal  or  principle  for  which  the  name  of  America 
has  been  held  in  honor  among  the  nations  and  for  which 
it  has  been  our  glory  to  contend  in  the  great  generations 
that  went  before  us.  A  supreme  moment  of  history  has 
come.  The  eyes  of  the  people  have  been  opened  and 
they  see.  The  hand  of  God  is  laid  upon  the  nations.  He 
will  show  them  favor,  I  devoutly  believe,  only  if  they 
rise  to  the  clear  heights  of  His  own  justice  and  mercy. 


ADDRESS  ON  THE   CONDITIONS   OF  PEACE 

DELIVERED  AT  A  JOINT   SESSION  OF 

THE  TWO  HOUSES   OF   CONGRESS, 

JANUARY    8,    1918 

The  Czar  of  Russia  was,  to  the  outward  world  at  least,  unexpectedly  forced 
to  abdicate  on  March  15,  1917.  Two  days  later  his  brother,  the  Grand  Duke 
Michael,  in  whose  favor  he  had  abdicated,  renounced  whatever  title  the  late  Czar 
had  to  convey.  A  provisional  government  was  formed,  which  was  recognized  by 
the  United  States  on  March  22,  which,  with  various  changes,  maintained  itself 
in  power,  pursuing  a  checkered  course  between  the  extreme  radicals  and  social 
ists,  on  the  one  hand,  and  what  might  be  called  the  conservative  or  moderate 
party,  on  the  other. 

On  November  7,  1917,  the  radical  elements  of  the  socialist  party,  called 
Bolsheviki  (meaning  the  majority  party),  led  by  Nikolai  Lenine,  who  had  united, 
under  his  leadership  the  extreme  elements,  came  into  power  and  immediately 
made  overtures  for  an  armistice  and  a  peace  with  Germany  and  its  allies,  invit 
ing  the  other  belligerents  to  do  likewise  and  stating  the  conditions  upon  which 
a  general  peace  should  be  made.  An  armistice  was  concluded  with  Germany 
and  its  allies  on  December  15,  1917,  to  last  to  January  14,  1918,  and  two  days 
before  its  expiration  a  further  armistice  was  agreed  upon  for  a  month.  Repre 
sentatives  of  the  Bolshevist  government  met  representatives  of  Germany  and 
its  allies  at  Brest-Litovsk  to  discuss  the  terms  of  peace. 

Germany's  enemies,  however,  refused  to  consider  the  terms  stated  by  the 
Bolshevik  government,  and  on  January  5,  1918,  during  the  Russo-German  nego 
tiations,  Mr.  Lloyd  George,  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Britain,  delivered  an  ad 
dress  before  the  Labor  Conference  on  Man-Power  in  London,  in  which  he  out 
lined,  after  consulting  the  self-governing  dominions  of  the  British  Empire,  and 
undoubtedly  after  an  exchange  of  views  with  Britain's  allies,  the  terms  and 
conditions  of  peace  which  Great  Britain  would  consider.  Three  days  later,  under 
these  circumstances,  when  Russia  had  withdrawn  from  the  war  and  was  in 
conference  with  the  representatives  of  Germany  and  its  allies,  and  after  Mr. 
Lloyd  George  had  stated  the  terms  and  conditions  of  peace  as  they  appeared 
to  a  European  statesman,  President  Wilson,  on  January  8,  1918,  delivered  the 
following  address,  in  which,  after  paying  particular  attention  to  the  Russian 
situation  and  expressing  sympathy  for  the  Russian  people  in  the  crisis  through 
which  they  were  passing,  he  announced  his  agreement  with  the  aims  and  pur 
poses  of  the  countries  allied  against  Germany,  thus  showing  the  allied  govern 
ments  to  be  in  perfect  accord. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS  : 

Once  more,  as  repeatedly  before,  the  spokesmen  of  the 
Central  Empires  have  indicated  their  desire  to  discuss 

354 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  355 

the  objects  of  the  war  and  the  possible  bases  of  a  general 
peace.  Parleys  have  been  in  progress  at  Brest-Litovsk 
between  Russian  representatives  and  representatives  of 
the  Central  Powers  to  which  the  attention  of  all  the  bel 
ligerents  has  been  invited  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
whether  it  may  be  possible  to  extend  these  parleys  into  a 
general  conference  with  regard  to  terms  of  peace  and  set 
tlement/  The  Russian  representatives  presented  not  only 
a  perfectly  definite  statement  of  the  principles  upon 
which  they  would  be  willing  to  conclude  peace  but  also 
an  equally  definite  program  of  the  concrete  application 
of  those  principles.  The  representatives  of  the  Central 
Powers,  on  their  part,  presented  an  outline  of  settlement 
which,  if  much  less  definite,  seemed  susceptible  of  liberal 
interpretation  until  their  specific  program  of  practical 
terms  was  added.  That  program  proposed  no  conces 
sions  at  all  either  to  the  sovereignty  of  Russia  or  to  the 
preferences  of  the  populations  with  whose  fortunes  it 
dealt,  but  meant,  in  a  word,  that  the  Central  Empires 
were  to  keep  every  foot  of  territory  their  armed  forces 
had  occupied, — every  province,  every  city,  every  point  of 
vantage, — as  a  permanent  addition  to  their  territories 
and  their  power.  It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  that  the 
general  principles  of  settlement  which  they  at  first  sug 
gested  originated  with  the  more  liberal  statesmen  of 
Germany  and  Austria,  the  men  who  have  begun  to  feel 
the  force  of  their  own  peoples'  thought  and  purpose, 
while  the  concrete  terms  of  actual  settlement  came  from 
the  military  leaders  who  have  no  thought  but  to  keep 
what  they  have  got.  The  negotiations  have  been  broken 
off.  The  Russian  representatives  were  sincere  and  in 


356          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

earnest.    They  cannot  entertain  such  proposals  of  con 
quest  and  domination. 

The  whole  incident  is  full  of  significance.  It  is  also 
full  of  perplexity.  With  whom  are  the  Russian  repre 
sentatives  dealing?  For  whom  are  the  representatives 
of  the  Central  Empires  speaking?  Are  they  speaking 
for  the  majorities  of  their  respective  parliaments  or  for 
the  minority  parties,  that  military  and  imperialistic 
minority  which  has  so  far  dominated  their  whole  policy 
and  controlled  the  affairs  of  Turkey  and  of  the  Balkan 
states  which  have  felt  obliged  to  become  their  associates 
in  this  war  ?  The  Russian  representatives  have  insisted, 
very  justly,  very  wisely,  and  in  the  true  spirit  of  modern 
democracy,  that  the  conferences  they  have  been  holding 
with  Teutonic  and  Turkish  statesmen  should  be  held 
within  open,  not  closed,  doors,  and  all  the  world  has  been 
audience,  as  was  desired.  To  whom  have  we  been  listen 
ing,  then?  To  those  who  speak  the  spirit  and  intention 
of  the  Resolutions  of  the  German  Reichstag  of  the  ninth 
of  July  last,  the  spirit  and  intention  of  the  liberal  leaders 
and  parties  of  Germany,  or  to  those  who  resist  and  defy 
that  spirit  and  intention  and  insist  upon  conquest  and 
subjugation?  Or  are  we  listening,  in  fact,  to  both,  un 
reconciled  and  in  open  and  hopeless  contradiction? 
These  are  very  serious  and  pregnant  questions.  Upon 
the  answer  to  them  depends  the  peace  of  the  world. 

But,  whatever  the  results  of  the  parleys  at  Brest- 
Litovsk,  whatever  the  confusions  of  counsel  and  of  pur 
pose  in  the  utterances  of  the  spokesmen  of  the  Central 
Empires,  they  have  again  attempted  to  acquaint  the 
world  with  their  objects  in  the  war  and  have  again  chal- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  357 

lenged  their  adversaries  to  say  what  their  objects  are  and 
what  sort  of  settlement  they  would  deem  just  and  satis 
factory.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  that  challenge 
should  not  be  responded  to,  and  responded  to  with  the 
utmost  candor.  We  did  not  wait  for  it.  Not  once,  but 
again  and  again,  we  have  laid  our  whole  thought  and 
purpose  before  the  world,  not  in  general  terms  only,  but 
each  time  with  sufficient  definition  to  make  it  clear  what 
sort  of  definitive  terms  of  settlement  must  necessarily 
spring  out  of  them.  Within  the  last  week  Mr.  Lloyd 
George  has  spoken  with  admirable  candor  and  in  ad 
mirable  spirit  for  the  people  and  Government  of  Great 
Britain.  There  is  no  confusion  of  counsel  among  the 
adversaries  of  the  Central  Powers,  no  uncertainty  of 
principle,  no  vagueness  of  detail.  The  only  secrecy  of 
counsel,  the  only  lack  of  fearless  frankness,  the  only 
failure  to  make  definite  statement  of  the  objects  of  the 
war,  lies  with  Germany  and  her  Allies.  The  issues  of 
life  and  death  hang  upon  these  definitions.  No  states 
man  who  has  the  least  conception  of  his  responsibility 
ought  for  a  moment  to  permit  himself  to  continue  this 
tragical  and  appalling  outpouring  of  blood  and  treasure 
unless  he  is  sure  beyond  a  peradventure  that  the  objects 
of  the  vital  sacrifice  are  part  and  parcel  of  the  very  life 
of  Society  and  that  the  people  for  whom  he  speaks  think 
them  right  and  imperative  as  he  does. 

There  is,  moreover,  a  voice  calling  for  these  defini 
tions  of  principle  and  of  purpose  which  is,  it  seems  to 
me,  more  thrilling  and  more  compelling  than  any  of  the 
many  moving  voices  with  which  the  troubled  air  of  the 
world  is  filled.  It  is  the  voice  of  the  Russian  people. 


358          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

They  are  prostrate  and  all  but  helpless,  it  would  seem, 
before  the  grim  power  of  Germany,  which  has  hitherto 
known  no  relenting  and  no  pity.  Their  power,  appar 
ently,  is  shattered.  And  yet  their  soul  is  not  subservient. 
They  will  not  yield  either  in  principle  or  in  action. 
Their  conception  of  what  is  right,  of  what  it  is  humane 
and  honorable  for  them  to  accept,  has  been  stated  with  a 
frankness,  a  largeness  of  view,  a  generosity  of  spirit,  and 
a  universal  human  sympathy  which  must  challenge  the 
admiration  of  every  friend  of  mankind;  and  they  have 
refused  to  compound  their  ideals  or  desert  others  that 
they  themselves  may  be  safe.  They  call  to  us  to  say  what 
it  is  that  we  desire,  in  what,  if  in  anything,  our  purpose 
and  our  spirit  differ  from  theirs;  and  I  believe  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  would  wish  me  to  re 
spond,  with  utter  simplicity  and  frankness.  Whether 
their  present  leaders  believe  it  or  not,  it  is  our  heart 
felt  desire  and  hope  that  some  way  may  be  opened 
whereby  we  may  be  privileged  to  assist  the  people  of 
Eussia  to  attain  their  utmost  hope  of  liberty  and  ordered 
peace. 

It  will  be  our  wish  and  purpose  that  the  processes  of 
peace,  when  they  are  begun,  shall  be  absolutely  open  and 
that  they  shall  involve  and  permit  henceforth  no  secret 
understandings  of  any  kind.  The  day  of  conquest  and 
aggrandizement  is  gone  by;  so  is  also  the  day  of  secret 
covenants  entered  into  in  the  interest  of  particular  gov 
ernments  and  likely  at  some  unlooked-for  moment  to 
upset  the  peace  of  the  world.  It  is  this  happy  fact,  now 
clear  to  the  view  of  every  public  man  whose  thoughts  do 
not  still  linger  in  an  age  that  is  dead  and  gone,  which 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  359 

makes  it  possible  for  every  nation  whose  purposes  are 
consistent  with  justice  and  the  peace  of  the  world  to  avow 
now  or  at  any  other  time  the  objects  it  has  in  view. 

We  entered  this  war  because  violations  of  right  had 
occurred  which  touched  us  to  the  quick  and  made  the  life 
of  our  own  people  impossible  unless  they  were  corrected 
and  the  world  secured  once  for  all  against  their  recur 
rence.  What  we  demand  in  this  war,  therefore,  is  noth 
ing  peculiar  to  ourselves.  It  is  that  the  world  be  made 
fit  and  safe  to  live  in;  and  particularly  that  it  be  made 
safe  for  every  peace-loving  nation  which,  like  our  own, 
wishes  to  live  its  own  life,  determine  its  own  institutions, 
be  assured  of  justice  and  fair  dealing  by  the  other  peo 
ples  of  the  world  as  against  force  and  selfish  aggression. 
All  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  in  effect  partners  in  this 
interest,  and  for  our  own  part  we  see  very  clearly  that 
unless  justice  be  done  to  others  it  will  not  be  done  to  us. 
The  program  of  the  world's  peace,  therefore,  is  our  pro 
gram;  and  that  program,  the  only  possible  program,  as 
we  see  it,  is  this: 

I.  Open  covenants  of  peace,  openly  arrived  at,  after 
which  there  shall  be  no  private  international  understand 
ings  of  any  kind  but  diplomacy  shall  proceed  always 
frankly  and  in  the  public  view. 

II.  Absolute  freedom  of  navigation  upon  the  seas, 
outside  territorial  waters,  alike  in  peace  and  in  war,  ex 
cept  as  the  seas  may  be  closed  in  whole  or  in  part  by 
international  action  for  the  enforcement  of  international 
covenants. 

III.  The  removal,  so  far  as  possible,  of  all  economic 
barriers  and  the  establishment  of  an  equality  of  trade 


360          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

conditions  among  all  the  nations  consenting  to  the  peace 
and  associating  themselves  for  its  maintenance. 

IV.  Adequate  guarantees  given  and  taken  that  na 
tional  armaments  will  be  reduced  to  the  lowest  point 
consistent  with  domestic  safety. 

V.  A  free,  open-minded,  and  absolutely  impartial  ad 
justment  of  all  colonial  claims,   based  upon  a   strict 
observance  of  the  principle  that  in  determining  all  such 
questions  of  sovereignty  the  interests  of  the  populations 
concerned  must  have  equal  weight  with  the  equitable 
claims  of  the  government  whose  title  is  to  be  determined. 

VI.  The  evacuation  of  all  Russian  territory  and  such 
a  settlement  of  all  questions  affecting  Russia  as  will 
secure  the  best  and  freest  co-operation  of  the   other 
nations  of  the  world  in  obtaining  for  her  an  unhampered 
and  unembarrassed   opportunity   for   the   independent 
determination  of  her   own  political   development   and 
national  policy  and  assure  her  of  a  sincere  welcome  into 
the  society  of  free  nations  under  institutions  of  her 
own  choosing ;  and,  more  than  a  welcome,  assistance  also 
of  every  kind  that  she  may  need  and  may  herself  desire. 
The  treatment  accorded  Russia  by  her  sister  nations  in 
the  months  to  come  will  be  the  acid  test  of  their  good 
will,  of  their  comprehension  of  her  needs  as   distin 
guished  from  their  own  interests,  and  of  their  intelligent 
and  unselfish  sympathy. 

VII.  Belgium,  the  whole  world  will  agree,  must  be 
evacuated  and  restored,  without  any  attempt  to  limit  the 
sovereignty  which  she  enjoys  in  common  with  all  other 
free  nations.    No  other  single  act  will  serve  as  this  will 
serve  to  restore  confidence  among  the  nations  in  the  laws 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  361 

which  they  have  themselves  set  and  determined  for  the 
government  of  their  relations  with  one  another.  With 
out  this  healing  act  the  whole  structure  and  validity  of 
international  law  is  forever  impaired. 

VIII.  All  French  territory  should  be  freed  and  the 
invaded  portions  restored,  and  the  wrong  done  to  France 
by  Prussia  in  1871  in  the  matter  of  Alsace-Lorraine, 
which  has  unsettled  the  peace  of  the  world  for  nearly 
fifty  years,  should  be  righted,  in  order  that  peace  may 
once  more  be  made  secure  in  the  interest  of  all. 

IX.  A  readjustment  of  the  frontiers  of  Italy  should 
be  effected  along  clearly  recognizable  lines  of  nation 
ality. 

X.  The  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary,  whose  place 
among  the  nations  we  wish  to   see  safeguarded   and 
assured,  should  be  accorded  the  freest  opportunity  of 
autonomous  development. 

XI.  Rumania,   Serbia,  and  Montenegro   should  be 
evacuated ;  occupied  territories  restored ;  Serbia  accorded 
free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea;  and  the  relations  of 
the  several  Balkan  states  to  one  another  determined  by 
friendly  counsel  along  historically  established  lines  of 
allegiance  and  nationality;  and  international  guarantees 
of  the  political  and  economic  independence  and  terri 
torial  integrity  of  the  several  Balkan  states  should  be 
entered  into. 

XII.  The  Turkish  portions  of  the  present  Ottoman 
Empire  should  be  assured  a  secure  sovereignty,  but  the 
other  nationalities  which  are  now  under  Turkish  rule 
should  be  assured  an  undoubted  security  of  life  and  an 
absolutely  unmolested  opportunity  of  autonomous  de- 


362          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

velopment,  and  the  Dardanelles  should  be  permanently 
opened  as  a  free  passage  to  the  ships  and  commerce  of 
all  nations  under  international  guarantees. 

XIII.  An  independent  Polish  state  should  be  erected 
which  should  include  the  territories  inhabited  by  indis 
putably  Polish  populations,  which  should  be  assured  a 
free  and  secure  access  to  the  sea,  and  whose  political 
and   economic   independence   and   territorial    integrity 
should  be  guaranteed  by  international  covenant. 

XIV.  A   general   association   of   nations   must   be 
formed  under  specific  covenants  for  the  purpose  of  af 
fording  mutual  guarantees  of  political  independence  and 
territorial  integrity  to  great  and  small  states  alike. 

In  regard  to  these  essential  rectifications  of  wrong 
and  assertions  of  right  we  feel  ourselves  to  be  intimate 
partners  of  all  the  governments  and  peoples  associated 
together  against  the  Imperialists.  We  cannot  be  sepa 
rated  in  interest  or  divided  in  purpose.  We  stand  to 
gether  until  the  end. 

For  such  arrangements  and  covenants  we  are  willing 
to  fight  and  to  continue  to  fight  until  they  are  achieved ; 
but  only  because  we  wish  the  right  to  prevail  and  desire 
a  just  and  stable  peace  such  as  can  be  secured  only  by 
removing  the  chief  provocations  to  war,  which  this  pro 
gram  does  remove.  We  have  no  jealousy  of  German 
greatness,  and  there  is  nothing  in  this  program  that 
impairs  it.  We  grudge  her  no  achievement  or  distinc 
tion  of  learning  or  of  pacific  enterprise  such  as  have 
made  her  record  very  bright  and  very  enviable.  We  do 
not  wish  to  injure  her  or  to  block  in  any  way  her  legiti 
mate  influence  or  power.  We  do  not  wish  to  fight  her 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  363 

either  with  arms  or  with  hostile  arrangements  of  trade 
if  she  is  willing  to  associate  herself  with  us  and  the 
other  peace-loving  nations  of  the  world  in  covenants  of 
justice  and  law  and  fair  dealing.  We  wish  her  only  to 
accept  a  place  of  equality  among  the  peoples  of  the 
world, — the  new  world  in  which  we  now  live, — instead 
of  a  place  of  mastery. 

Neither  do  we  presume  to  suggest  to  her  any  altera 
tion  or  modification  of  her  institutions.  But  it  is  neces 
sary,  we  must  frankly  say,  and  necessary  as  a  pre 
liminary  to  any  intelligent  dealings  with  her  on  our  part, 
that  we  should  know  whom  her  spokesmen  speak  for 
when  they  speak  to  us,  whether  for  the  Reichstag  ma 
jority  or  for  the  military  party  and  the  men  whose  creed 
is  imperial  domination. 

We  have  spoken  now,  surely,  in  terms  too  concrete 
to  admit  of  any  further  doubt  or  question.  An  evident 
principle  runs  through  the  whole  program  I  have  out 
lined.  It  is  the  principle  of  justice  to  all  peoples  and  ^ 
nationalities,  and  their  right  to  live  on  equal  terms  of 
liberty  and  safety  with  one  another,  whether  they  be 
strong  or  weak.  Unless  this  principle  be  made  its 
foundation  no  part  of  the  structure  of  international 
justice  can  stand.  The  people  of  the  United  States  could 
act  upon  no  other  principle;  and  to  the  vindication  of 
this  principle  they  are  ready  to  devote  their  lives,  their 
honor,  and  everything  that  they  possess.  The  moral 
climax  of  this  the  culminating  and  final  war  for  human 
liberty  has  come,  and  they  are  ready  to  put  their  own 
strength,  their  own  highest  purpose,  their  own  integrity 
and  devotion  to  the  test. 


REPLY  TO  THE  ADDRESSES  OF  THE  IMPE 
RIAL  GERMAN   CHANCELLOR,  AND   THE 
IMPERIAL     AND     ROYAL     AUSTRO- 
HUNGARIAN  MINISTER  FOR 
FOREIGN   AFFAIRS 


ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  A  JOINT  SESSION 

OF  THE  TWO  HOUSES  OF  CONGRESS, 

FEBRUARY  11,  1918 

In  the  course  of  an  address  delivered  on  January  24,  1918  before  the 
Reichsrat,  Count  Czernin,  Austro-Hungarian  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  is 
reported  by  the  Press  to  have  said,  explaining  the  negotiations  then  in  progress 
with  Russia,  that  while  peace  could  not  be  matured  within  twenty-four  hours, 
he  was  convinced  that,  "  it  is  now  maturing  and  that  the  question  whether 
or  not  an  honorable  general  peace  can  be  secured  is  merely  a  question  of 
resistance."  Referring  to  the  address  of  January  8,  1918,  he  remarked  that, 
"  President  Wilson's  peace  offer  confirms  me  in  this  opinion.  Naturally  an 
offer  of  this  kind  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  matter  acceptable  in  every  detail, 
for  that  obviously  would  render  any  negotiations  superfluous,"  that  he  con 
sidered,  "  the  recent  proposals  of  President  Wilson  as  an  appreciable  approach 
to  the  Austro-Hungarian  point  of  view,  and  that  to  some  of  them  Austria- 
Hungary  joyfully  could  give  her  approval,"  and  finally,  that,  "  It  is  obvious 
to  me  that  an  exchange  of  views  between  America  and  Austria-Hungary  might 
form  the  starting  point  for  a  conciliatory  discussion  among  all  the  States 
which  have  not  yet  entered  into  peace  negotiations." 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONGRESS: 

On  the  eighth  of  January  I  had  the  honor  of  ad 
dressing  you  on  the  objects  of  the  war  as  our  people 
conceive  them.  The  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Britain 
had  spoken  in  similar  terms  on  the  fifth  of  January. 
To  these  addresses  the  German  Chancellor  replied  on 
the  twenty-fourth  and  Count  Czernin,  for  Austria,  on 

364 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  365 

the  same  day.  It  is  gratifying  to  have  our  desire  so 
promptly  realized  that  all  exchanges  of  view  on  this 
great  matter  should  be  made  in  the  hearing  of  all  the 
world. 

Count  Czernin's  reply,  which  is  directed  chiefly  to 
my  own  address  of  the  eighth  of  January,  is  uttered  in  a 
very  friendly  tone.  He  finds  in  my  statement  a  suffi 
ciently  encouraging  approach  to  the  views  of  his  own 
Government  to  justify  him  in  believing  that  it  furnishes 
a  basis  for  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  purposes  by 
the  two  Governments.  He  is  represented  to  have  inti 
mated  that  the  views  he  was  expressing  had  been  com 
municated  to  me  beforehand  and  that  I  was  aware  of 
them  at  the  time  he  was  uttering  them :  but  in  this  I  am 
sure  he  was  misunderstood.  I  had  received  no  intima 
tion  of  what  he  intended  to  say.  There  was,  of  course, 
no  reason  why  he  should  communicate  privately  with 
me.  I  am  quite  content  to  be  one  of  his  public 
audience. 

Count  von  Hertling's  reply  is,  I  must  say,  very 
vague  and  very  confusing.  It  is  full  of  equivocal 
phrases  and  leads  it  is  not  clear  where.  But  it  is  cer 
tainly  in  a  very  different  tone  from  that  of  Count 
Czernin,  and  apparently  of  an  opposite  purpose.  It 
confirms,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  rather  than  removes,  the 
unfortunate  impression  made  by  what  we  had  learned 
of  the  conferences  at  Brest-Litovsk.  His  discussion  and 
acceptance  of  our  general  principles  lead  him  to  no 
practical  conclusions.  He  refuses  to  apply  them  to  the 
substantive  items  which  must  constitute  the  body  of  any 
final  settlement.  He  is  jealous  of  international  action 


366          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  of  international  counsel.  He  accepts,  lie  says,  the 
principle  of  public  diplomacy,  but  he  appears  to  insist 
that  it  be  confined,  at  any  rate  in  this  case,  to  gen 
eralities  and  that  the  several  particular  questions  of 
territory  and  sovereignty,  the  several  questions  upon 
whose  settlement  must  depend  the  acceptance  of  peace 
by  the  twenty-three  states  now  engaged  in  the  war,  must 
be  discussed  and  settled,  not  in  general  council,  but  sev 
erally  by  the  nations  most  immediately  concerned  by 
interest  or  neighborhood.  He  agrees  that  the  seas 
should  be  free,  but  looks  askance  at  any  limitation  to 
that  freedom  by  international  action  in  the  interest  of 
the  common  order.  He  would  without  reserve  be  glad 
to  see  economic  barriers  removed  between  nation  and 
nation,  for  that  could  in  no  way  impede  the  ambitions 
of  the  military  party  with  whom  he  seems  constrained 
to  keep  on  terms.  Neither  does  he  raise  objection  to 
a  limitation  of  armaments.  That  matter  will  be  settled 
of  itself,  he  thinks,  by  the  economic  conditions  which 
must  follow  the  war.  But  the  German  colonies,  he 
demands,  must  be  returned  without  debate.  He  will 
discuss  with  no  one  but  the  representatives  of  Russia 
what  disposition  shall  be  made  of  the  peoples  and  the 
lands  of  the  Baltic  provinces;  with  no  one  but  the 
Government  of  France  the  "conditions"  under  which 
French  territory  shall  be  evacuated ;  and  only  with  Aus 
tria  what  shall  be  done  with  Poland.  In  the  determina 
tion  of  all  questions  affecting  the  Balkan  states  he 
defers,  as  I  understand  him,  to  Austria  and  Turkey; 
and  with  regard  to  the  agreements  to  be  entered  into 
concerning  the  non-Turkish  peoples  of  the  present  Otto- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  367 

man  Empire,  to  the  Turkish  authorities  themselves. 
After  a  settlement  all  around,  effected  in  this  fashion, 
by  individual  barter  and  concession,  he  would  have  no 
objection,  if  I  correctly  interpret  his  statement,  to  a 
league  of  nations  which  would  undertake  to  hold  the 
new  balance  of  power  steady  against  external  disturb 
ance. 

It  must  be  evident  to  everyone  who  understands  what 
this  war  has  wrought  in  the  opinion  and  temper  of  the 
world  that  no  general  peace,  no  peace  worth  the  infinite 
sacrifices  of  these  years  of  tragical  suffering,  can  pos 
sibly  be  arrived  at  in  any  such  fashion.  The  method 
the  German  Chancellor  proposes  is  the  method  of  the 
Congress  of  Vienna.  We  cannot  and  will  not  return  to 
that.  What  is  at  stake  now  is  the  peace  of  the  world. 
What  we  are  striving  for  is  a  new  international  order 
based  upon  broad  and  universal  principles  of  right  and 
justice, — no  mere  peace  of  shreds  and  patches.  Is  it 
possible  that  Count  von  Hertling  does  not  see  that,  does 
not  grasp  it,  is  in  fact  living  in  his  thought  in  a  world 
dead  and  gone?  Has  he  utterly  forgotten  the  Reichs 
tag  Resolutions  of  the  nineteenth  of  July,  or  does  he 
deliberately  ignore  them1?  They  spoke  of  the  conditions 
of  a  general  peace,  not  of  national  aggrandizement  or  of 
arrangements  between  state  and  state.  The  peace  of  the_ 
world  depends  upon  the  just  settlement  of  each  of  the 
several  problems  to  which  I  adverted  in  my  recent  ad 
dress  to  the  Congress.  I,  of  course,  do  not  mean  that 
the  peace  of  the  world  depends  upon  the  acceptance  of 
any  particular  set  of  suggestions  as  to  the  way  in  which 
those  problems  are  to  be  dealt  with.  I  mean  only  that 


368          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

those  problems  each  and  all  affect  the  whole  world; 
that  unless  they  are  dealt  with  in  a  spirit  of  unselfish 
and  unbiased  justice,  with  a  view  to  the  wishes,  the 
natural  connections,  the  racial  aspirations,  the  security, 
and  the  peace  of  mind  of  the  peoples  involved,  no  perma 
nent  peace  will  have  been  attained.  They  cannot  be 
discussed  separately  or  in  corners.  None  of  them  con 
stitutes  a  private  or  separate  interest  from  which  the 
opinion  of  the  world  may  be  shut  out.  Whatever  affects 
the  peace  affects  mankind,  and  nothing  settled  by  mili 
tary  force,  if  settled  wrong,  is  settled  at  all.  It  will 
presently  have  to  be  reopened. 

Is  Count  von  Hertling  not  aware  that  he  is  speaking 
in  the  court  of  mankind,  that  all  the  awakened  nations 
of  the  world  now  sit  in  judgment  on  what  every  public 
man,  of  whatever  nation,  may  say  on  the  issues  of  a 
conflict  which  has  spread  to  every  region  of  the  world? 
The  Reichstag  Resolutions  of  July  themselves  frankly 
accepted  the  decisions  of  that  court.  There  shall  be  no 
annexations,  no  contributions,  no  punitive  damages. 
Peoples  are  not  to  be  handed  about  from  one  sov 
ereignty  to  another  by  an  international  conference  or 
an  understanding  between  rivals  and  antagonists.  Na 
tional  aspirations  must  be  respected;  peoples  may  now 
be  dominated  and  governed  only  by  their  own  consent. 
"  Self  -determination"  is  not  a  mere  phrase.  It  is  an 
imperative  principle^  of  action,  which  statesmen  will 
henceforth  ignore  at  their  peril.  We  cannot  have  gen 
eral  peace  for  the  asking,  or  by  the  mere  arrangements 
of  a  peace  conference.  It  cannot  be  pieced  together 
out  of  individual  understandings  between  powerful 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  369 

states.  All  the  parties  to  this  war  must  join  in  the  set 
tlement  of  every  issue  anywhere  involved  in  it ;  because 
what  we  are  seeking  is  a  peace  that  we  can  all  unite 
to  guarantee  and  maintain  and  every  item  of  it  must  be 
submitted  to  the  common  judgment  whether  it  be  right 
and  fair,  an  act  of  justice,  rather  than  a  bargain  be 
tween  sovereigns. 

The  United  States  has  no  desire  to  interfere  in 
European  affairs  or  to  act  as  arbiter  in  European 
territorial  disputes.  She  would  disdain  to  take  advan 
tage  of  any  internal  weakness  or  disorder  to  impose  her 
own  will  upon  another  people.  She  is  quite  ready  to  be 
shown  that  the  settlements  she  has  suggested  are  not 
the  best  or  the  most  enduring.  They  are  only  her 
own  provisional  sketch  of  principles  and  of  the  way 
in  which  they  should  be  applied.  But  she  entered  this 
war  because  she  was  made  a  partner,  whether  she  would 
or  not,  in  the  sufferings  and  indignities  inflicted  by  the 
military  masters  of  Germany,  against  the  peace  and 
security  of  mankind;  and  the  conditions  of  peace  will 
touch  her  as  nearly  as  they  will  touch  any  other  nation 
to  which  is  entrusted  a  leading  part  in  the  maintenance 
of  civilization.  She  cannot  see  her  way  to  peace  until 
the  causes  of  this  war  are  removed,  its  renewal  rendered 
as  nearly  as  may  be  impossible. 

This  war  had  its  roots  in  the  disregard  of  the  rights 
of  small  nations  and  of  nationalities  which  lacked  the 
union  and  the  force  to  make  good  their  claim  to  deter 
mine  their  own  allegiances  and  their  own  forms  of 
political  life.  Covenants  must  now  be  entered  into 
which  will  render  such  things  impossible  for  the  future ; 


370          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  those  covenants  must  be  backed  by  the  united  force 
of  all  the  nations  that  love  justice  and  are  willing  to 
maintain  it  at  any  cost.  If  territorial  settlements  and 
the  political  relations  of  great  populations  which  have 
not  the  organized  power  to  resist  are  to  be  determined 
by  the  contracts  of  the  powerful  governments  which  con 
sider  themselves  most  directly  affected,  as  Count  von 
Hertling  proposes,  why  may  not  economic  questions 
also?  It  has  come  about  in  the  altered  world  in  which 
we  now  find  ourselves  that  justice  and  the  rights  of  peo 
ples  affect  the  whole  field  of  international  dealing  as 
much  as  access  to  raw  materials  and  fair  and  equal 
conditions  of  trade.  Count  von  Hertling  wants  the 
essential  bases  of  commercial  and  industrial  life  to  be 
safeguarded  by  common  agreement  and  guarantee,  but 
he  cannot  expect  that  to  be  conceded  him  if  the  other 
matters  to  be  determined  by  the  articles  of  peace  are 
not  handled  in  the  same  way  as  items  in  the  final  ac 
counting.  He  cannot  ask  the  benefit  of  common  agree 
ment  in  the  one  field  without  according  it  in  the  other. 
I  take  it  for  granted  that  he  sees  that  separate  and 
selfish  compacts  with  regard  to  trade  and  the  essential 
materials  of  manufacture  would  afford  no  foundation 
for  peace.  Neither,  he  may  rest  assured,  will  separate 
and  selfish  compacts  with  regard  to  provinces  and 
peoples. 

Count  Czernin  seems  to  see  the  fundamental  ele 
ments  of  peace  with  clear  eyes  and  does  not  seek  to 
obscure  them.  He  sees  that  an  independent  Poland, 
made  up  of  all  the  indisputably  Polish  peoples  who  lie 
contiguous  to  one  another,  is  a  matter  of  European  con- 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  371 

cern  and  must  of  course  be  conceded ;  that  Belgium  must 
be  evacuated  and  restored,  no  matter  what  sacrifices 
and  concessions  that  may  involve;  and  that  national 
aspirations  must  be  satisfied,  even  within  his  own  Em 
pire,  in  the  common  interest  of  Europe  and  mankind. 
If  he  is  silent  about  questions  which  touch  the  interest 
and  purpose  of  his  allies  more  nearly  than  they  touch 
those  of  Austria  only,  it  must  of  course  be  because 
he  feels  constrained,  I  suppose,  to  defer  to  Germany 
and  Turkey  in  the  circumstances.  Seeing  and  conced 
ing,  as  he  does,  the  essential  principles  involved  and 
the  necessity  of  candidly  applying  them,  he  naturally 
feels  that  Austria  can  respond  to  the  purpose  of  peace 
as  expressed  by  the  United  States  with  less  embarrass 
ment  than  could  Germany.  He  would  probably  have 
gone  much  farther  had  it  not  been  for  the  embarrass 
ments  of  Austria's  alliances  and  of  her  dependence  upon 
Germany. 

After  all,  the  test  of  whether  it  is  possible  for  either 
government  to  go  any  further  in  this  comparison  of 
views  is  simple  and  obvious.  The  principles  to  be 
applied  are  these: 

First,  that  each  part  of  the  final  settlement  must  be 
based  upon  the  essential  justice  of  that  particular  case 
and  upon  such  adjustments  as  are  most  likely  to  bring  a 
peace  that  will  be  permanent ; 

Second,  that  peoples  and  provinces  are  not  to  be 
bartered  about  from  sovereignty  to  sovereignty  as  if 
they  were  mere  chattels  and  pawns  in  a  game,  even 
the  great  game,  now  forever  discredited,  of  the  balance 
of  power;  but  that 


372          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Third,  every  territorial  settlement  involved  in  this 
war  must  be  made  in  the  interest  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  populations  concerned,  and  not  as  a  part  of  any 
mere  adjustment  or  compromise  of  claims  amongst  rival 
states;  and 

Fourth,  that  all  well  defined  national  aspirations  shall 
be  accorded  the  utmost  satisfaction  that  can  be  accorded 
them  without  introducing  new  or  perpetuating  old  ele 
ments  of  discord  and  antagonism  that  would  be  likely 
in  time  to  break  the  peace  of  Europe  and  consequently 
of  the  world. 

A  general  peace  erected  upon  such  foundations  can 
be  discussed.  Until  such  a  peace  can  be  secured  we  have 
no  choice  but  to  go  on.  So  far  as  we  can  judge,  these 
principles  that  we  regard  as  fundamental  are  already 
everywhere  accepted  as  imperative  except  among  the 
spokesmen  of  the  military  and  annexationist  party  in 
Germany.  If  they  have  anywhere  else  been  rejected,  the 
objectors  have  not  been  sufficiently  numerous  or  influen 
tial  to  make  their  voices  audible.  The  tragical  circum 
stance  is  that  this  one  party  in  Germany  is  apparently 
willing  and  able  to  send  millions  of  men  to  their  death  to 
prevent  what  all  the  world  now  sees  to  be  just. 

I  would  not  be  a  true  spokesman  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  if  I  did  not  say  once  more  that  we  entered 
this  war  upon  no  small  occasion,  and  that  we  can  never 
turn  back  from  a  course  chosen  upon  principle.  Our 
resources  are  in  part  mobilized  now,  and  we  shall  not 
pause  until  they  are  mobilized  in  their  entirety.  Our 
armies  are  rapidly  going  to  the  fighting  front,  and  will 
go  more  and  more  rapidly.  Our  whole  strength  will  be 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  373 

put  into  this  war  of  emancipation, — emancipation  from 
the  threat  and  attempted  mastery  of  selfish  groups  of 
autocratic  rulers, — whatever  the  difficulties  and  present 
partial  delays.  We  are  indomitable  in  our  power  of  in 
dependent  action  and  can  in  no  circumstances  consent 
to  live  in  a  world  governed  by  intrigue  and  force.  We 
believe  that  our  own  desire  for  new  international  order 
under  which  reason  and  justice  and  the  common  inter 
ests  of  mankind  shall  prevail  is  the  desire  of  enlightened 
men  everywhere.  Without  that  new  order  the  world  will 
be  without  peace  and  human  life  will  lack  tolerable  con 
ditions  of  existence  and  development.  Having  set  our 
hand  to  the  task  of  achieving  it,  we  shall  not  turn  back. 
I  hope  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  add  that  no 
word  of  what  I  have  said  is  intended  as  a  threat.  That 
is  not  the  temper  of  our  people.  I  have  spoken  thus 
only  that  the  whole  world  may  know  the  true  spirit  of 
America, — that  men  everywhere  may  know  that  our  pas 
sion  for  justice  and  for  self-government  is  no  mere 
passion  of  words  but  a  passion  which,  once  set  in  action, 
must  be  satisfied.  The  power  of  the  United  States  is  a 
menace  to  no  nation  or  people.  It  will  never  be  used  in 
aggression  or  for  the  aggrandizement  of  any  selfish  in 
terest  of  our  own.  It  springs  out  of  freedom  and  is  for 
the  service  of  freedom. 


AFTER  ONE  YEAR  OF  WAR 

ADDRESS  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  THIRD 

LIBERTY  LOAN  CAMPAIGN,  BALTIMORE, 

APRIL  6,  1918 

On  February  25,  1918,  the  Imperial  German  Chancellor,  Count  von  Hertling, 
speaking  in  the  Reichstag,  said  that  he  could  accept  the  four  principles  laid 
down  in  President  Wilson's  last  address,  provided  they  be  recognized  by  all 
States  and  peoples  and  that  the  principle  of  self-determination  be  applied  to 
Ireland,  Egypt  and  India.  He  further  stated  that  Germany  would  not  adopt 
an  antagonistic  attitude  if  a  proposal  be  made  from  Belgium,  as  Germany  had 
repeatedly  announced  that  it  did  not  contemplate  retaining  Belgium,  although 
its  interests  in  that  country  must  and  should  be  safeguarded.  "  Meanwhile,"  to 
quote  his  exact  language,  "  I  readily  admit  that  President  Wilson's  message  of 
February  11  constitutes  perhaps  a  small  step  toward  neutral  rapprochement." 

On  March  3,  1918,  as  indicating  the  sense  in  which  President  Wilson's  four 
principles,  with  which  the  Chancellor  said  he  agreed,  were  to  be  applied,  Germany 
wrung  from  Eussia  a  peace,  by  the  terms  of  which  that  country  ceded  Batum, 
Kars  and  Ardahan  to  Turkey,  renounced  its  sovereignty  over  Courland,  Poland 
and  Lithuania,  excepting  a  part  of  the  province  of  Grodno,  consented  to  evacuate 
Lavonia  and  Esthonia  and  to  recognize  Finland  and  Ukraine  as  Independent 
Powers. 

President  Wilson  did  not  reply  at  the  time  to  Count  von  Hertling's  address, 
but,  taking  advantage  of  the  first  anniversary  of  the  existence  of  war  between 
the  United  States  and  the  Imperial  German  Government,  he  stated  anew,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  reasons  which  had  caused  the  United  States 
to  declare  war,  the  aims  and  purposes  of  that  war,  and  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  United  States  could  consent  to  discuss  a  peace  as  equitable  as  it  is 
hoped  to  be  permanent. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

This  is  the  anniversary  of  our  acceptance  of  Ger 
many's  challenge  to  fight  for  our  right  to  live  and  be 
free,  and  for  the  sacred  rights  of  free  men  everywhere. 
The  Nation  is  awake.  There  is  no  need  to  call  to  it. 
We  know  what  the  war  must  cost,  our  utmost  sacrifice, 
the  lives  of  our  fittest  men  and,  if  need  be,  all  that  we 
possess.  The  loan  we  are  met  to  discuss  is  one  of  the 

374 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  375 

least  parts  of  what  we  are  called  upon  to  give  and  to  do, 
though  in  itself  imperative.  The  people  of  the  whole 
country  are  alive  to  the  necessity  of  it,  and  are  ready  to 
lend  to  the  utmost,  even  where  it  involves  a  sharp 
skimping  and  daily  sacrifice  to  lend  out  of  meager  earn 
ings.  They  will  look  with  reprobation  and  contempt 
upon  those  who  can  and  will  not,  upon  those  who 
demand  a  higher  rate  of  interest,  upon  those  who  think 
of  it  as  a  mere  commercial  transaction.  I  have  not 
come,  therefore,  to  urge  the  loan.  I  have  come  only  to 
give  you,  if  I  can,  a  more  vivid  conception  of  what  it 
is  for. 

The  reason  for  this  great  war,  the  reason  why  it  had 
to  come,  the  need  to  fight  it  through,  and  the  issues  that 
hang  upon  its  outcome,  are  more  clearly  disclosed  now 
than  ever  before.  It  is  easy  to  see  just  what  this  par 
ticular  loan  means  because  the  Cause  we  are  fighting  for 
stands  more  sharply  revealed  than  at  any  previous  crisis 
of  the  momentous  struggle.  The  man  who  knows  least 
can  now  see  plainly  how  the  cause  of  Justice  stands  and 
what  the  imperishable  thing  is  he  is  asked  to  invest  in. 
Men  in  America  may  be  more  sure  than  they  ever  were 
before  that  the  cause  is  their  own,  and  that,  if  it  should 
be  lost,  their  own  great  Nation's  place  and  mission  in 
the  world  would  be  lost  with  it. 

I  call  you  to  witness,  my  fellow  countrymen,  that  at 
no  stage  of  this  terrible  business  have  I  judged  the  pur 
poses  of  Germany  intemperately.  I  should  be  ashamed 
in  the  presence  of  affairs  so  grave,  so  fraught  with  the 
destinies  of  mankind  throughout  all  the  world,  to  speak 
with  truculence,  to  use  the  weak  language  of  hatred  or 


376         PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

vindictive  purpose.  We  must  judge  as  we  would  be 
judged.  I  have  sought  to  learn  the  objects  Germany  has 
in  this  war  from  the  mouths  of  her  own  spokesmen,  and 
to  deal  as  frankly  with  them  as  I  wished  them  to  deal 
with  me.  I  have  laid  bare  our  own  ideals,  our  own 
purposes,  without  reserve  or  doubtful  phrase,  and  have 
asked  them  to  say  as  plainly  what  it  is  that  they  seek. 

We  have  ourselves  proposed  no  injustice,  no  ag 
gression.  We  are  ready,  whenever  the  final  reckoning 
is  made,  to  be  just  to  the  German  people,  deal  fairly 
with  the  German  power,  as  with  all  others.  There  can 
be  no  difference  between  peoples  in  the  final  judgment, 
if  it  is  indeed  to  be  a  righteous  judgment.  To  pro 
pose  anything  but  justice,  even-handed  and  dispas 
sionate  justice,  to  Germany  at  any  time,  whatever 
the  outcome  of  the  war,  would  be  to  renounce  and  dis 
honor  our  own  cause.  For  we  ask  nothing  that  we  are 
not  willing  to  accord. 

It  has  been  with  this  thought  that  I  have  sought  to 
learn  from  those  who  spoke  for  Germany  whether  it  was 
justice  or  dominion  and  the  execution  of  their  own  will 
upon  the  other  nations  of  the  world  that  the  German 
leaders  were  seeking.  They  have  answered,  answered  in 
unmistakable  terms.  They  have  avowed  that  it  was  not 
justice  but  dominion  and  the  unhindered  execution  of 
their  own  will. 

The  avowal  has  not  come  from  Germany's  statesmen. 
It  has  come  from  her  military  leaders,  who  are  her  real 
rulers.  Her  statesmen  have  said  that  they  wished  peace, 
and  were  ready  to  discuss  its  terms  whenever  their  oppo 
nents  were  willing  to  sit  down  at  the  conference  table 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  377 

with  them.  Her  present  Chancellor  has  said, — in  in 
definite  and  uncertain  terms,  indeed,  and  in  phrases  that 
often  seem  to  deny  their  own  meaning,  but  with  as  much 
plainness  as  he  thought  prudent, — that  he  believed  that 
peace  should  be  based  upon  the  principles  which  we  had 
declared  would  be  our  own  in  the  final  settlement.  At 
Brest-Litovsk  her  civilian  delegates  spoke  in  similar 
terms;  professed  their  desire  to  conclude  a  fair  peace 
and  accord  to  the  peoples  with  whose  fortunes  they  were 
dealing  the  right  to  choose  their  own  allegiances.  But 
action  accompanied  and  followed  the  profession.  Their 
military  masters,  the  men  who  act  for  Germany  and 
exhibit  her  purpose  in  execution,  proclaimed  a  very  dif 
ferent  conclusion.  We  cannot  mistake  what  they  have 
done, — in  Russia,  in  Finland,  in  the  Ukraine,  in  Rou- 
mania.  The  real  test  of  their  justice  and  fair  play  has 
come.  From  this  we  may  judge  the  rest.  They  are 
enjoying  in  Russia  a  cheap  triumph  in  which  no  brave 
or  gallant  nation  can  long  take  pride.  A  great  people, 
helpless  by  their  own  act,  lies  for  the  time  at  their 
mercy.  Their  fair  professions  are  forgotten.  They  no 
where  set  up  justice,  but  everywhere  impose  their  power 
and  exploit  everything  for  their  own  use  and  aggrandize 
ment;  and  the  peoples  of  conquered  provinces  are  in 
vited  to  be  free  under  their  dominion! 

Are  we  not  justified  in  believing  that  they  would  do 
the  same  things  at  their  western  front  if  they  were  not 
there  face  to  face  with  armies  whom  even  their  countless 
divisions  cannot  overcome?  If,  when  they  have  felt 
their  check  to  be  final,  they  should  propose  favorable  and 
equitable  terms  with  regard  to  Belgium  and  France 


378          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

and  Italy,  could  they  blame  us  if  we  concluded  that  they 
did  so  only  to  assure  themselves  of  a  free  hand  in 
Russia  and  the  East? 

Their  purpose  is  undoubtedly  to  make  all  the  Slavic 
peoples,  all  the  free  and  ambitious  nations  of  the  Baltic 
peninsula,  all  the  lands  that  Turkey  has  dominated  and 
misruled,  subject  to  their  will  and  ambition  and  build 
upon  that  dominion  an  empire  of  force  upon  which  they 
fancy  that  they  can  then  erect  an  empire  of  gain  and 
commercial  supremacy, — an  empire  as  hostile  to  the 
Americas  as  to  the  Europe  which  it  will  overawe, — an 
empire  which  will  ultimately  master  Persia,  India,  and 
the  peoples  of  the  Far  East.  In  such  a  programme  our 
ideals,  the  ideals  of  justice  and  humanity  and  liberty, 
/  the  principle  of  the  free  self-determination  of  nations 
upon  which  all  the  modern  world  insists,  can  play  no 
part.  They  are  rejected  for  the  ideals  of  power,  for  the 
principle  that  the  strong  must  rule  the  weak,  that  trade 
must  follow  the  flag,  whether  those  to  whom  it  is  taken 
welcome  it  or  not,  that  the  peoples  of  the  world  are  to  be 
made  subject  to  the  patronage  and  overlordship  of  those 
who  have  the  power  to  enforce  it. 

That  programme  once  carried  out,  America  and  all 
who  care  or  dare  to  stand  with  her  must  arm  and  pre 
pare  themselves  to  contest  the  mastery  of  the  World,  a 
mastery  in  which  the  rights  of  common  men,  the  rights 
of  women  and  of  all  who  are  weak,  must  for  the  time 
being  be  trodden  under  foot  and  disregarded,  and  the 
old,  age-long  struggle  for  freedom  and  right  begin  again 
at  its  beginning.  Everything  that  America  has  lived 
for  and  loved  and  grown  great  to  vindicate  and  bring 


MESSAGES,  ADDRESSES  AND  PAPERS  379 

to  a  glorious  realization  will  have  fallen  in  utter  ruin 
and  the  gates  of  mercy  once  more  pitilessly  shut  upon 
mankind ! 

The  thing  is  preposterous  and  impossible ;  and  yet  is 
not  that  what  the  whole  course  and  action  of  the  Ger 
man  armies  has  meant  wherever  they  have  moved?  I 
do  not  wish,  even  in  this  moment  of  utter  disillusion 
ment,  to  judge  harshly  or  unrighteously.  I  judge  only 
what  the  German  arms  have  accomplished  with  unpity- 
ing  thoroughness  throughout  every  fair  region  they  have 
touched. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do?  For  myself,  I  am  ready, 
ready  still,  ready  even  now,  to  discuss  a  fair  and  just 
and  honest  peace  at  any  time  that  it  is  sincerely  pur 
posed, — a  peace  in  which  the  strong  and  the  weak  shall 
fare  alike.  But  the  answer,  when  I  proposed  such  a 
peace,  came  from  the  German  commanders  in  Russia, 
and  I  cannot  mistake  the  meaning  of  the  answer. 

I  accept  the  challenge.  I  know  that  you  accept  it. 
All  the  world  shall  know  that  you  accept  it.  It  shall 
appear  in  the  utter  sacrifice  and  self-forgetfulness  with 
which  we  shall  give  all  that  we  love  and  all  that  we  have 
to  redeem  the  world  and  make  it  fit  for  free  men  like 
ourselves  to  live  in.  This  now  is  the  meaning  of  all 
that  we  do.  Let  everything  that  we  say,  my  fellow 
countrymen,  everything  that  we  henceforth  plan  and 
accomplish,  ring  true  to  this  response  till  the  majesty 
and  might  of  our  concerted  power  shall  fill  the  thought 
and  utterly  defeat  the  force  of  those  who  flout  and  mis 
prize  what  we  honor  and  hold  dear.  Germany  has  once 
more  said  that  force,  and  force  alone,  shall  decide 


380          PRESIDENT  WILSON'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

whether  Justice  and  peace  shall  reign  in  the  affairs  of 
men,  whether  Eight  as  America  conceives  it  or  Do 
minion  as  she  conceives  it  shall  determine  the  destinies 
of  mankind.  There  is,  therefore,  but  one  response  pos 
sible  from  us:  Force,  Force  to  the  utmost,  Force  with 
out  stint  or  limit,  the  righteous  and  triumphant  Force 
which  shall  make  Eight  the  law  of  the  world,  and  cast 
every  selfish  dominion  down  in  the  dust. 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX 

(1)  MEXICO:  THE  RECORD  OF  A  CONVERSATION  WITH  PRESIDENT 

WILSON  l 

By  Samuel  G.  Blythe 

"My  ideal  is  an  orderly  and  righteous  government  in  Mexico;  but 
my  passion  is  for  the  submerged  85  per  cent  of  the  people  of  that  Re 
public,  who  are  now  struggling  toward  liberty." 

The  President  closed  his  fingers  into  a  sinewy  fist.  He  leaned 
forward  in  his  chair — leaned  forward  as  a  man  leans  forward  who  is 
about  to  start  on  a  race,  his  body  taut,  his  muscles  tense.  I  could  see 
the  cords  stand  out  on  the  back  of  his  neck.  His  eyes  were  narrowed, 
his  lips  slightly  parted,  his  vigor  and  earnestness  impressive. 

Bang !  He  hit  the  desk  with  that  clenched  fist.  The  paper  knife 
rattled  against  the  tray  and  a  few  open  letters  stirred  a  bit  from  the 
jar  of  the  blow. 

"I  challenge  you,"  he  said,  "to  cite  me  an  instance  in  all  the  his 
tory  of  the  world  where  liberty  was  handed  down  from  above.  Lib 
erty  always  is  attained  by  the  forces  working  below,  underneath,  by 
the  great  movement  of  the  people.  That,  leavened  by  the  sense  of 
wrong  and  oppression  and  injustice,  by  the  ferment  of  human  rights 
to  be  attained,  brings  freedom."  The  President  relaxed  from  his 
tense  attitude  and  smiled. 

"It  is  a  curious  thing,"  he  continued,  "that  every  demand  for  the 
establishment  of  order  in  Mexico  takes  into  consideration,  not  order 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  Mexico,  the  great  mass  of  the  popula 
tion,  but  order  for  the  benefit  of  the  old-time  regime,  for  the  aristo 
crats,  for  the  vested  interests,  for  the  men  who  are  responsible  for 
this  very  condition  of  disorder.  No  one  asks  for  order  because  order 
will  help  the  masses  of  the  people  to  get  a  portion  of  their  rights  and 
their  land;  but  all  demand  it  so  that  the  great  owners  of  property, 
the  overlords,  the  hidalgos,  the  men  who  have  exploited  that  rich 
country  for  their  own  selfish  purposes,  shall  be  able  to  continue  their 
processes  undisturbed  by  the  protests  of  the  people  from  whom  their 
wealth  and  power  have  been  obtained. 

1  Congressional  Record,  May  23,  1914. 

383 


384  APPENDIX 

"The  dangers  that  beset  the  Republic  are  held  to  be  the  individual 
and  corporate  troubles  of  these  men,  not  the  aggregated  injustices 
that  have  been  heaped  on  this  vastly  greater  section  of  the  popula 
tion  that  is  now  struggling  to  recover  by  force  what  has  always  been 
theirs  by  right. 

"They  want  order — the  old  order;  but  I  say  to  you  that  the  old 
order  is  dead.  It  is  my  part,  as  I  see  it,  to  aid  in  composing  those 
differences  so  far  as  I  may  be  able,  that  the  new  order,  which  will 
have  its  foundation  on  human  liberty  and  human  rights,  shall  prevail. ' ' 

We  were  sitting  in  the  old  Cabinet  room,  on  the  second  floor  of 
the  White  House,  now  changed  to  a  library  and  workroom  for  the 
President.  Two  sides  of  the  walls  are  lined  with  books,  and  oppo 
site  the  mantel  there  hangs  a  great  picture  of  the  signing  of  the 
Spanish  War  peace  treaty,  showing  President  McKinley  gazing  be- 
nignantly  at  Secretary  Day  and  the  Spanish  commissioner,  who, 
seated  side  by  side,  are  writing  their  names  on  the  document  that 
formally  ended  the  war  of  1898.  A  great  globe  stands  in  the  corner — 
a  great  blue  globe,  with  many  lines  traced  on  it,  many  lines  running 
from  Washington  to  the  south.  There  was  a  cluster  of  red  roses  in 
the  corner,  and  a  little  breeze  fluttered  the  curtains  of  the  windows 
that  looked  out  on  the  fountain,  the  wonderful  masses  of  bloom  on 
the  flowering  trees,  the  new,  soft  green  of  the  leaves,  and  the  velvet 
of  the  grass.  A  searchlight  played  on  the  tip  of  the  Washington 
Monument,  and,  far  back,  the  Dome  of  the  Capitol  swam  mistily  in 
the  silver  light  of  the  new  moon. 

The  President  was  in  evening  dress,  and  he  seemed  strong  and 
vigorous  as  he  sat  facing  me  at  the  side  of  his  desk.  He  was  waiting 
to  go  to  a  conference  between  the  Attorney  General,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  and  Senator  Thomas,  of  Colorado,  over  the  mining  strike  in  the 
Senator's  State. 

We  talked  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour.  The  President  went 
freely  and  frankly  into  the  situation — told  his  ideals,  his  hopes,  his 
plans,  his  conclusions — dealing,  of  course,  with  the  subject  in  a  gen 
eral  rather  than  in  a  specific  way,  because  of  the  length  of  time  I  told 
him  must  ensue  between  the  talk  and  the  publication  of  what  I  might 
write  concerning  it,  and  the  knowledge  that  in  a  day-to-day  event  like 
this,  with  its  constantly  shifting  series  of  happenings,  summaries 
must  be  resorted  to  rather  than  immediate  comment. 

As  a  result  of  my  conversation  with  the  President,  which  was  on 
the  evening  of  April  27,  only  a  few  hours  after  word  had  come  that 
Huerta  would  accept  the  offer  of  mediation  made  by  the  representa 
tives  of  Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Chile,  I  can  state  these  conclusions, 


APPENDIX  385 

which  will  endure  regardless  of  the  outcome  of  mediation  negotiations. 
The  settled  policy  of  the  President  in  regard  to  Mexico  will  be  as 
follows : 

First.  The  United  States,  so  long  as  Mr.  Wilson  is  President,  will 
not  seek  to  gain  a  foot  of  Mexican  territory  in  any  way  or  under  any 
pretext.  When  we  have  finished  with  Mexico,  Mexico  will  be  terri 
torially  intact. 

Second.  No  personal  aggrandizement  by  American  investors  or 
adventurers  or  capitalists,  or  exploitation  of  that  country,  will  be 
permitted.  Legitimate  business  interests  that  seek  to  develop  rather 
than  exploit  will  be  encouraged. 

Third.  A  settlement  of  the  agrarian  land  question  by  constitu 
tional  means — such  as  that  followed  in  New  Zealand,  for  example — 
will  be  insisted  on. 

These  are  the  materialistic  ideals  of  President  Wilson,  the  main 
points  he  has  firmly  in  his  mind.  His  future  policy  will  rest  on  these 
foundations,  regardless  of  what  the  moment  may  inject  into  the 
situation  in  the  way  of  minor  questions. 

We  talked  for  a  few  moments  on  that  April  evening  of  the  historic 
associations  of  the  portion  of  the  White  House  where  we  were,  which, 
until  the  time  of  President  Roosevelt,  was  used  by  the  Presidents  as 
office  and  workroom  by  the  clerical  force,  by  the  Cabinet,  and  as  the 
public  reception  room.  It  was  in  this  part  of  the  White  House  that 
all  the  preliminaries  of  the  Spanish  War  were  decided  on  by  President 
McKinley,  and  it  was  this  portion  of  the  White  House  that  President 
Lincoln  occupied  as  his  office  and  workroom  during  the  Civil  War. 
Now  it  makes  up  a  part  of  the  home  space  in  the  White  House ;  but 
in  that  library  where  we  were  sitting,  and  where  McKinley 's  Cabinet 
debated  the  Spanish  War  and  Lincoln's  Cabinet  debated  the  Civil 
War,  a  great  many  of  the  problems  of  Mexico,  whether  war  problems 
or  peace  problems,  have  been  and  will  be  considered  by  President 
Wilson. 

"Mr.  President,"  I  began.  "I  have  recently  been  through  the 
country  somewhat,  and  I  am  constantly  meeting  men  who  have  arrived 
from  various  States.  I  find  and  they  find  that,  though  the  people  of 
this  country  are  patriotic  and  are  loyally  standing  by  the  administra 
tion,  they  do  not,  as  a  whole,  know  just  what  they  are  patriotic  about." 

"I  have  found  that  to  be  true,  in  a  measure,  myself,"  said  the 
President,  "and  I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  explain  my  ideas 
and  my  ideals  on  the  subject. ' ' 

He  stopped  for  a  moment,  as  though  to  select  a  place  for  begin 
ning.  I  noticed  that  his  face,  instead  of  being  pale,  as  it  was  the 


386  APPENDIX 

last  time  I  saw  him,  was  burned  by  the  sun;  that  his  eye  was  clear 
and  bright,  and  his  whole  attitude  that  of  a  man  who  is  strong  and 
well.  I  noticed,  too,  that  his  hands  were  not  burned  by  the  sun ;  and 
as  he  talked  I  watched  those  hands  and  observed  how  he  used  them 
constantly — not  in  widespread  gestures,  but  rather  in  supplementary 
and  interpretative  motions,  as  though  he  were  a  musician  speaking 
the  score  of  his  music  and  playing  the  notes  with  his  fingers  as  he 
went  along.  I  doubt  whether  his  hands,  except  when  he  thwacked  the 
desk,  moved  more  than  twelve  inches  one  way  or  the  other ;  but  they 
seemed  almost  a  part  of  his  speech  and  expressed  his  various  atti 
tudes  of  mind  and  emotion  when  he  proceeded  as  vividly  as  did  the 
intonation  of  his  voice  and  the  emphasis  of  his  words. 

He  sat  back  in  his  chair  and  half  closed  his  eyes.  His  fingers 
laced  and  interlaced.  Then  he  began  to  talk  clearly,  simply,  with  a 
clarity  of  diction,  a  sequence  of  thought,  and  a  lucidity  of  expres 
sion  that  seemed  even  more  remarkable  than  it  really  was  when 
compared  with  the  muddied  speech  of  many  of  our  statesmen.  Now 
and  then  he  used  a  colloquialism.  Once  or  twice  he  dropped  into 
slang.  He  spoke  of  someone  "butting  in,"  and  he  said,  "We  must 
hump  ourselves."  He  marshaled  his  facts  with  such  precision  and 
presented  his  ideas  so  cogently  that  it  was  apparent  his  viewpoint  was 
the  result  of  a  long  and  continuous  study  of  every  phase  of  the  minor 
problems  involved  in  the  great  problem,  Why  are  we  in  Mexico,  and 
what  are  we  going  to  do  there? 

"Every  phase  of  the  Mexican  situation,"  the  President  said,  "is 
based  on  the  condition  that  those  in  de  facto  control  of  the  government 
must  be  relieved  of  that  control  before  Mexico  can  realize  her  manifest 
destiny. ' ' 

The  President  made  it  clear  that  the  United  States  has  no  quarrel 
with  the  Mexican  people  and  that  the  Mexican  people  should  have  no 
quarrel  with  us.  He  sketched  the  conditions  in  Mexico  under  Diaz 
and  came  to  the  underlying  cause  for  all  the  unrest  in  that  country 
for  many  years.  This,  he  said,  was  the  fight  for  the  land — just  that 
and  nothing  more. 

He  pointed  out  how  the  landed  aristocracy,  originally  given  con 
trol  of  vast  tracts  of  land  by  Spanish  grants,  had  during  succeeding 
years,  by  coercion,  absorption,  and  by  other  methods  of  force,  and 
with  the  support  of  the  Government,  taken  away  from  the  small  land 
owners  most  of  their  properties  and  had  created  the  feudal  estates, 
where  the  people  were  virtually  slaves. 

These  processes  were  followed  by  the  passage  of  a  general  law 
which  made  legal  the  condemnation  of  all  land  to  the  State  that  was 


APPENDIX  387 

not  secured  by  a  title  which  complied  with  provisions  in  the  law 
that  made  most  of  the  titles,  of  the  properties  the  landed  aristocracy 
wanted,  easy  of  annulment.  Farm  after  farm  passed  into  the  control 
of  the  big  landowners,  and  there  was  no  recourse  for  the  former 
owners  or  for  their  families  but  to  work  at  dictated  terms  and  prac 
tically  as  slaves  on  the  land  that  had  formerly  been  theirs. 

"Fortunately  for  the  peons,  but  unfortunately  for  himself,"  the 
President  continued,  "Diaz  permitted  the  establishment  of  a  public 
school  system.  He  himself  said  he  raised  up  the  instrument  that 
brought  about  his  own  destruction — the  school  system." 

Weak  and  incomplete  as  this  school  system  was  and  is,  it  never 
theless  had  the  effect  of  helping  in  great  measure  toward  the  partial 
education  of  a  sufficient  number  of  the  peons  to  make  it  easy  for  agi 
tators  to  start  revolutions.  Revolutions  were  started.  Finally  there 
came  the  successful  revolution  of  Madero  and  his  supporters  and 
the  exile  of  Diaz.  This  was  followed  by  the  killing  of  Madero  and 
the  assumption  of  power  by  Huerta.  The  present  revolution,  like  all 
preceding  revolutions,  is  primarily  a  revolution  by  the  peons  who 
want  to  regain  their  land. 

"To  some  extent,"  the  President  said,  "the  situation  in  Mexico 
is  similar  to  that  in  France  at  the  time  of  the  revolution.  There  are 
wide  differences  in  many  ways,"  he  continued,  "but  the  basic  situa 
tion  has  many  resemblances." 

After  the  accession  of  Huerta  the  President  definitely  decided  not 
to  recognize  that  alleged  government  and  remained  firm  in  that  re 
solve.  However,  for  many  months  he  has  not  been  unaware  that  a 
situation  was  developing  which  would  force  him  to  make  an  active 
movement  against  Mexico,  or  the  alleged  Huerta  government  of 
Mexico,  and  would  bring  about  such  a  condition  as  existed  at  the 
time  mediation  was  suggested. 

"It  has  been  a  difficult  situation,"  he  said,  "because  so  many 
elements  of  it  have  been  without  our  control  and  our  territory.  In  a 
domestic  matter  we  can  see  our  way  clear,  because  ordinarily  all  the 
elements  are  within  our  view  and  consideration ;  but  here  was  a  trouble 
that  had  its  active  movements  in  another  and  an  adjacent  and  a  some 
what  remote  country,  and  we  were  forced  to  sit  and  watch  and  await 
such  developments  as  might  be.  I  have  known  for  months  that  some 
such  thing  could  happen — was  inevitable,  in  fact — and  my  prayer 
was  that  it  might  not  be  a  calamity." 

Then  came  the  incident  at  Tampico.  Rear  Admiral  Mayo,  resent 
ing  the  insult  to  the  flag,  issued  his  demand  for  an  apology,  and  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet  stepped  in  behind  the  admiral. 


388  APPENDIX 

"Really,"  said  the  President,  "it  was  a  psychological  moment, 
if  that  phrase  is  not  too  trite  to  be  used.  There  was  no  great  disaster 
like  the  sinking  of  the  Maine,  and  there  was  an  adequate  reason  for 
our  action  in  this  culminating  insult  of  a  series  of  insults  to  our 
country  and  our  flag. ' ' 

The  President  followed  with  his  emphatic  declaration  that  his  pas 
sion  is  for  the  great  masses  of  the  Mexican  people,  and  his  statement 
that  his  sole  object  in  Mexico  is  to  help  the  people  secure  the  liberty 
which  he  holds  is  fully  theirs  by  right. 

"The  function  of  being  a  policeman  in  Mexico  has  not  appealed 
to  me,  nor  does  it  appeal  to  our  people,"  he  said.  "Our  duty  is 
higher  than  that.  If  we  are  to  go  in  there,  restore  order,  and  immedi 
ately  get  out,  and  invite  a  repetition  of  conflict  similar  to  that  which 
is  in  progress  now,  we  had  better  have  remained  out. 

"What  we  must  do  and  what  we  hope  to  do  are  twofold:  First, 
we  hope  to  show  the  world  that  our  friendship  for  Mexico  is  a  dis 
interested  friendship,  so  far  as  our  own  aggrandizement  goes;  and, 
second,  we  hope  to  prove  to  the  world  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  not 
what  the  rest  of  the  world,  including  some  of  the  countries  in  this 
hemisphere,  contends — merely  an  excuse  for  the  gaining  of  territory 
for  ourselves. 

"I  hold  this  to  be  a  wonderful  opportunity  to  prove  to  the  world 
that  the  United  States  of  America  is  not  only  human  but  humane ;  that 
we  are  actuated  by  no  other  motives  than  the  betterment  of  the  con 
ditions  of  our  unfortunate  neighbor,  and  by  the  sincere  desire  to  ad 
vance  the  cause  of  human  liberty. ' ' 

/  The  situation,  he  pointed  out,  is  intolerable,  and  requires  the 
'  strong  guiding  hand  of  the  great  Nation  on  this  continent  that,  by 
«very  appeal  of  right  and  justice,  and  the  love  for  order,  and  the  hope 
for  peace  and  prosperity,  must  assist  these  warring  people  back  into 
the  paths  of  quiet  and  prosperity.  We  have  an  object  lesson  to  give 
to  the  rest  of  the  world:  an  object  lesson  that  will  prove  to  the 
skeptical  outsiders  that  this  Nation  rises  superior  to  considerations  of 
added  power  and  scorns  an  opportunity  for  territorial  aggrandize 
ment;  an  object  lesson  that  will  show  to  the  people  of  this,  our  own, 
hemisphere  that  we  are  sincerely  and  unselfishly  the  friends  of  all  of 
them,  and  particularly  the  friends  of  the  Mexican  people,  with  no 
other  idea  than  the  idea  and  the  ideal  of  helping  them  compose  their 
differences,  starting  them  on  the  road  to  continued  peace  and  renewed 
)rosperity,  and  leaving  them  to  work  out  their  own  destiny,  but 
matching  them  narrowly  and  insisting  that  they  shall  take  help  when 
help  is  needed. 


APPENDIX  389 

"I  have  not  permitted  myself  to  think  of  what  will  be  the  out 
come  of  these  plans  for  mediation,"  the  President  said.  "I  hope 
they  may  be  successful.  In  any  event,  we  shall  deem  it  our  duty  to 
help  the  Mexican  people,  and  we  shall  continue  until  we  have  satis 
factory  knowledge  that  peace  has  been  restored,  that  a  constitutional 
government  is  reorganized,  and  that  the  way  is  open  for  the  peaceful 
reorganization  of  that  harassed  country. 

"We  shall  not  demand  a  foot  of  territory  nor  a  cent  of  money —  \ 
except,  of  course,  the  settlement  of  such  claims  as  may  justly  be  made  J 
by  American  citizens  for  damages  to  their  property  during  these  dis 
turbances — individual  claims.  There  will  be  no  money  demand  in  a 
national  sense.  Then  we  shall  have  shown  the  entire  world  that  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  means  an  unselfish  friendship  for  our  neighbors — a 
disinterested  friendship,  in  the  sense  of  not  being  interested  in  our 
aggrandizement — and  that  our  motives  are  only  the  motives  inspired 
by  the  higher  humanity,  by  our  sense  of  duty  and  responsibility,  and 
by  our  determination  that  human  liberty  shall  prevail  in  our  hemi 
sphere.  ' ' 

The  President  paused.  He  had  been  intensely  in  earnest  in  his 
talk.  He  smiled,  and  his  long  white  fingers  wove  themselves  in  and 
out.  Then,  with  a  little  gesture  that  betokened  amused  contempt,  he 
continued : 

' '  They  say  the  Mexicans  are  not  fitted  for  self-government ;  and  to  • 
this  I  reply  that,  when  properly  directed,  there  is  no  people  not  fitted  V 
for  self-government.    The  very  fact  that  the  extension  of  the  school 
system  by  Diaz  brought  about  a  certain  degree  of  understanding 
among  some  of  the  people,  which  caused  them  to  awaken  to  their 
wrongs  and  to  strive  intelligently  for  their  rights,  makes  that  con 
tention  absurd.   I  do  not  hold  that  the  Mexican  peons  are  at  present  as  . 
capable  of  self-government  as  other  people — ours,  for  example — but  1 1 
do  hold  that  the  widespread  sentiment  that  they  never  will  be  andij 
never  can  be  made  to  be  capable  of  self-government  is  as  wickedly  false 
as  it  is  palpably  absurd." 

He  paused  again. 

"Did  you  see  that  dispatch  we  gave  out,  from  Consul  General 
Hanna,  which  detailed  his  experiences  with  the  army  at  Torreon? 
It  was  a  sort  of  diary  of  his  adventures  and  a  record  of  what  he  saw. 
We  gave  it  all  out ;  but  the  latter  part  of  it  was  not  widely  printed, 
for  the  first  part  of  it  was  full  of  bloody  details  of  the  battle.  I  sup 
pose" — and  he  smiled  whimsically  again — "I  suppose  the  editors  felt 
there  was  no  particular  interest  in  the  peaceful  and  gratifying  in 
formation  that  was  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  dispatch. 


390  APPENDIX 

"Well,  if  you  read  that  dispatch,  you  learned  that  Mr.  Hanna  was 
most  agreeably  surprised  and  greatly  gratified  by  the  treatment  Villa 's 
men  gave  their  prisoners ;  how  they  endeavored  to  live  up  to  the  rules 
of  civilized  warfare ;  how  they  were  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  new 
information  that  would  relieve  them  of  the  stigma  of  being  bar 
barians.  This  merely  shows  that  these  people,  if  they  get  the  chance, 
are  capable  of  learning  and  are  anxious  to  learn." 

The  President  returned  to  the  question  of  mediation  and  what  it 
might  bring  forth,  but  has  not  information  beyond  the  general  knowl 
edge  that  Huerta  had  accepted  the  friendly  offices  of  the  self -proposed 
mediators.  I  asked  him  whether,  in  the  event  of  successful  mediation, 
his  plans  for  the  betterment  of  Mexico  would  be  carried  out. 

"I  hope  so,"  he  replied,  "for  it  is  not  my  intention,  having  begun 
this  enterprise,  to  turn  back — unless  I  am  forced  to  do  so — until  I 
have  assurances  that  the  great  and  crying  wrongs  the  people  have 
endured  are  in  process  of  satisfactory  adjustment.  Of  course,  it 
would  not  do  for  us  to  insist  on  an  exact  procedure  for  the  partition 
of  the  land,  for  example,  for  that  would  set  us  up  in  the  position  of 
dictators,  which  we  are  not  and  never  shall  be ;  but  it  is  not  our  inten 
tion  to  cease  in  our  friendly  offices  until  we  are  assured  that  all  these 
matters  are  on  their  way  to  successful  settlement.  It  is  a  great  and  a 
complicated  question,  but  I  have  every  hope  that  a  suitable  solution 
will  be  found,  and  that  the  day  will  come  when  the  Mexican  people 
will  be  put  in  full  possession  of  the  land,  the  liberty,  and  the  peaceful 
prosperity  that  are  rightfully  theirs." 

President  Wilson  banged  the  desk  again.  His  smile  vanished  and 
his  face  became  stern  and  set. 

"And  eventually,"  he  said  slowly,  "I  shall  fight  every  one  of  these 
men  who  are  now  seeking  and  who  will  then  be  seeking  to  exploit 
Mexico  for  their  own  selfish  ends.  I  shall  do  what  I  can  to  keep 
Mexico  from  their  plundering.  There  shall  be  no  individual  exploita 
tion  of  Mexico  if  I  can  stop  it." 

He  walked  over  to  the  big  blue  globe. 

"It  is  a  wonderful  country,"  he  said  as  he  put  his  finger  on 
Mexico,  "a  wonderful  country.  There  is  every  advantage  there  for 
the  peaceful  and  prosperous  pursuit  of  happiness.  Have  you  ever 
noticed  that  if  you  draw  a  line  straight  south  from  New  York  it  will 
touch  the  western  coast  of  South  America  instead  of  the  eastern,  and 
that  it  runs  along  by  Chile  and  Peru,  and  the  other  countries  on  the 
western  side  of  the  southern  continent? 

:      "Thus,  with  the  Panama  Canal  running  practically  north  and 
feouth,  this  brings  these  countries  which  have  been  so  remote  into  close 


APPENDIX  391 

touch  with  us,  and  the  commerce  of  this  Western  Hemisphere  will/ 
brood  over  Central  America. 

' '  What  we  desire  to  do,  and  what  we  shall  do,  is  to  show  our  neigh 
bors  to  the  south  of  us  that  their  interests  are  identical  with  our  inter 
ests  ;  that  we  have  no  plans  or  any  thoughts  of  our  own  exaltation,  but 
have  in  view  only  the  peace  and  the  prosperity  of  the  people  in  our 
hemisphere. ' ' 

The  little  clock  on  the  bookcase  struck  nine.  The  President  rose. 
He  walked  down  the  stairs  with  me,  and  took  his  hat  to  go  across  to 
his  office,  where  there  was  to  be  a  conference  on  the  vexing  situation 
in  Colorado.  As  we  parted  at  the  end  of  the  corridor  he  held  out  his 
hand  and  said: 

"It  will  be  a  great  thing  not  only  to  have  helped  humanity  by 
restoring  order,  but  to  have  gone  further  than  that  by  laying  the  j 
secure  foundations  for  that  liberty  without  which  there  can  be  noJ 
happiness." 


392  APPENDIX 


(2)  THE  PRESIDENT'S  MEXICAN  POLICY — PRESENTED  IN  AN  AUTHORIZED 
INTERVIEW  BY  SECRETARY  OF  THE  INTERIOR  FRANKLIN  K.  LANE, 

JULY  16,  1916 

' '  President  Wilson 's  Mexican  policy  is  one  of  the  things  of  which, 
as  a  member  of  his  administration,  I  am  most  proud.  It  shows  so 
well  his  abounding  faith  in  humanity,  his  profound  philosophy  of 
democracy,  and  his  unshakable  belief  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  lib 
erty,  justice,  and  right.  He  has  never  sought  the  easy  solution  of  any 
of  the  difficult  questions  that  have  arisen  in  the  last  three  years.  He 
has  always  sought  the  right  solution. 

''Mr.  Wilson's  Mexican  policy  has  not  been  weak  and  vacillating. 
It  has  been  definite  and  consistent,  firm  and  constructive.  How  firm 
is  already  known  to  those  who  have  sought  to  force  American  inter 
vention  in  Mexico;  how  constructive  will  best  be  appreciated  fifty 
years  from  now  by  the  whole  world.  It  was  to  Mexico  perhaps  more 
than  to  anything  that  the  President  referred  the  other  day  when  he 
said  that  he  was  playing  for  the  verdict  of  mankind. 

"The  policy  of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico  is  a  policy  of 
hope  and  of  helpfulness;  it  is  a  policy  of  Mexico  for  the  Mexicans. 
That,  after  all,  is  the  traditional  policy  of  this  country — it  is  the 
policy  that  drove  Maximilian  out  of  Mexico." 

Secretary  of  the  Interior  Lane  made  this  statement  to  me  at  his 
summer  camp  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  then  he  launched 
out  into  a  forceful  declaration  of  the  principles  underlying  President 
Wilson's  Mexican  policy  and  proceeded  to  give  the  reasons  for  his 
conviction  that  the  President  was  right  when  he  refused  to  recognize 
Huerta,  and  declared  that  the  murderer  of  Madero  must  go,  right 
when  he  occupied  the  port  of  Vera  Cruz,  right  when  he  accepted  the 
offer  of  mediation  extended  by  the  ABC,  right  when  he  abided  by 
the  agreement  reached  at  Niagara  Falls,  right  when  he  withdrew 
from  Vera  Cruz,  right  when  he  recognized  Carranza  as  head  of  the 
de  facto  Government,  and  right  when  he  sent  the  United  States 
Army  into  Mexico  after  the  bandit  raid  on  Columbus.  Mr.  Lane 
said: 

"The  doctrine  of  force  is  always  fighting  with  the  doctrine  of 
sympathy,  and  the  trouble  with  the  two  schools  of  warism  and  pacifism 
is  that  neither  one  will  recognize  that  both  philosophies  have  a  part 
to  play  in  the  life  of  every  individual  and  of  every  nation  and  in 


APPENDIX  393 

the  production  and  advancement  of  that  strange  thing  we  call  civiliza 
tion. 

"Now,  the  doctrine  of  force  has  been  worked  to  its  limit  in  Mexico. 
President  Wilson  believes  that  the  doctrine  of  sympathy  should  have 
its  chance  in  that  country  and  this  is  the  foundation  of  his  Mexican 
policy.  Not  that  Mexico  wants  our  sympathy.  It  does  not — and  that 
is  one  of  the  great  difficulties  we  have  to  contend  with.  Another  is 
that  it  takes  a  long  while  to  make  a  Mexican  believe  that  we  intend  his 
country  good  and  not  evil.  The  people  of  Mexico  have  inherited  the 
pride  of  Aragon,  and  the  thing  above  all  others  that  they  do  not 
want  and  will  not  stand  for  is  that  kind  of  sympathy  which  is  nothing 
but  pity. 

"The  sympathy  that  Mexico  needs  is  the  sympathy  of  under 
standing.  The  United  States  should  be  what  the  Latin  Americans 
call  'muy  simpatico.'  We  have  no  exact  English  equivalent  for  that 
expression,  but  if  there  is  one  thing  it  does  not  mean  it  is  sympathy 
as  we  Americans  use  the  word.  Uncle  Sam  will  be  'muy  simpatico' 
to  the  Mexican  people  only  when  he  has  a  conscientious  regard  for 
and  realization  of  the  feelings  and  the  desires  of  the  Mexican  and 
understands  his  best  side,  his  aspiring  nature. 

"Mexico  is  a  bad  neighbor  now.  There  is  no  use  in  denying  this. 
We  live  at  peace  with  Canada  on  our  northern  border,  without  a 
soldier  along  3,000  miles  of  land,  while,  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  we 
are  obliged  to  keep  an  armed  force  on  our  Mexican  border  all  of  the 
time,  and  have  now  gathered  there  the  largest  army  assembled  in  the 
United  States  since  the  Civil  War.  The  superficial  reason  for  this 
is  that  Mexico  cannot  settle  her  own  troubles  at  home  and  that  the 
de  facto  government  has  been  unable  to  prevent  bandits  from  harass 
ing  us. 

"Our  neighbor's  sewage  is  running  over  into  our  lot,  and  we  must 
find  some  way  to  stop  it  even  if  we  have  to  go  over  the  boundary  line 
and  stop  the  pipes  ourselves.  This  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world 
to  say.  but  to  respect  the  letter  of  the  law  and  at  the  same  time  abate 
a  nuisance  that  is  not  on  your  own  property  is  one  of  the  most  diffi 
cult  things  in  the  world. 

"Mexico  will  always  be  a  nuisance  to  us  until  a  few  fundamental 
reforms  are  put  into  effect  there.  If  it  is  to  be  lasting,  however, 
someone  inside  of  Mexico  must  do  it.  It  cannot  be  done  by  us  unless 
we  are  prepared  not  only  to  conquer  Mexico  but  to  annex  Mexico. 
We  should  not  only  have  to  make  war  on  Mexico  and  impose  peace 
by  force,  but  after  giving  it  a  preliminary  cleaning  up  we  should 
have  to  establish  and  maintain  indefinitely  a  government  there." 


394  APPENDIX 

I  asked  Secretary  Lane  to  go  over  the  history  of  the  past  six  years 
in  Mexico  with  me  and  to  tell  the  World  the  reasons  which  had  gov 
erned  the  policy  and  actions  of  the  United  States  Government  as  each 
emergency  arose.  In  complying  with  this  request  Mr.  Lane  said: 

"Diaz  was  a  great  man,  a  very  great  man.  I  doubt  if,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Bismarck,  there  was  a  greater  man  alive  in  his 
day.  After  the  Czar  of  Russia  he  was  the  most  absolute  despot  of 
modern  times.  He  built  a  monument  to  himself,  which  I  believe  is 
still  standing,  to  celebrate  thirty  years  of  peace  in  Mexico,  and  all 
the  nations  of  the  earth  sent  representatives  to  its  unveiling.  Within 
two  years  he  was  an  exile  because  that  monument  represented  order 
alone  and  the  aspirations  of  only  a  very  small  portion  of  his  people. 

"The  peace  that  he  had  maintained  was  an  imposed  peace  not 
coming  from  the  people  themselves.  Diaz  ruled  by  fear.  He  had 
gone  into  office  with  promises  upon  his  lips,  and  I  am  willing  to  be 
lieve  that  he  meant  to  keep  them.  But  once  in  power  he  was  appalled 
by  the  span  of  years  necessary  for  the  slow  process  of  constructive 
civilization,  and  he  determined  that  to  gain  time  Mexico  was  to  be 
saved  by  two  things,  force  and  wealth. 

"And  so,  while  observing  to  some  extent  the  letter  of  the  con 
stitution  he  cynically  avoided  its  spirit.  He  always  placed  property 
rights  before  human  rights.  Although  he  sought  to  improve,  and  did 
improve,  Mexico's  material  condition  it  was  without  even  so  much  as 
a  thought  of  her  moral  progress.  He  kept  the  masses  of  the  people  in 
subjection  by  keeping  them  in  ignorance.  "When  he  died  eighty-three 
per  cent  of  the  people  could  neither  read  nor  write,  and  as  far  as  her 
political  development  went,  Mexico  was  no  further  forward  and  no 
more  fitted  for  self-government  than  in  1821,  when,  having  wrested 
her  independence  from  Spain,  she  was  first  recognized  as  a  sovereign 
nation  by  the  United  States. 

"During  Diaz's  time  I  had  a  very  interesting  talk  with  a  great 
lawyer  in  Mexico  City  who  was  an  officeholder  in  the  Diaz  regime. 
I  asked  him  the  current  question:  'After  Diaz,  what?'  To  my  sur 
prise  the  man  said:  'I  am  a  Constitutionalist.  Either  before  Diaz 
dies  or  immediately  upon  his  death  a  revolution  will  break  out  in 
Mexico  having  for  its  purpose  three  things — the  restoration  of  the 
land  to  the  people,  the  establishment  of  public  schools  throughout 
the  country,  and  a  judicial  system  in  which  the  courts  will  decide 
according  to  law  and  not  according  to  executive  desires.' 

"The  Madero  revolution  followed  exactly  on  these  lines,  but 
Madero  was  a  dreamer,  an  idealist,  a  man  who  took  his  constitution 
seriously  and  who  failed  for  two  reasons,  or  rather  because  of  two 


APPENDIX  395 

weaknesses  of  his  own  character.  He  was  not  strong  enough  to  sup 
press  the  rapacious  rascals  who  surrounded  him.  and  he  was  not 
practical  enough  to  deliver  the  goods  that  he  had  promised.  Men  in 
Madero's  own  government  saw  in  his  revolution  only  another  oppor 
tunity  for  getting  rich  quick,  and  they  ruined  him  while  he  was  still 
dreaming. 

"Huerta  was  his  commander-in-chief,  a  soldier  trained  by  Diaz 
and  dominated  by  Diaz 's  friends.  He,  too,  believed  in  saving  Mexico 
by  force  and  wealth ;  he  was  in  complete  sympathy  with  the  philosophy 
expressed  in  the  Diaz  administration.  There  is  no  truth  in  the  oft- 
repeated  allegation  that  all  the  trouble  with  Mexico  would  have  been 
avoided  if  President  Wilson  had  recognized  Huerta.  I  ask  anyone 
who  wishes  to  be  fair  to  this  administration  to  look  back  three  years 
and  read  the  newspapers  of  that  day  and  the  debates  in  Congress  in 
which  the  murder  of  Madero  and  Suarez  was  denounced. 

"Had  we  recognized  Huerta  or  had  we  not  taken  a  positive  stand 
against  him,  the  criticism  this  administration  has  received  for  the 
policy  we  have  pursued  would  be  as  nothing  to  what  would  now 
overwhelm  us.  "Who  were  the  American  statesmen  who  demanded 
Huerta 's  recognition?  What  one  of  our  leaders  of  either  party  set 
forth  the  principles  upon  which  a  better  feeling  between  this  country 
and  all  of  our  sister  Republics  of  the  South  could  be  stimulated  by 
taking  a  position  that  was  abhorrent  to  our  American  conscience? 

"We  know  what  we  have  suffered  in  the  past  three  years,  and  it 
is  too  easy  now  to  say  that  all  this  would  have  been  avoided  if 
Huerta  had  been  recognized,  but  the  only  demand  made  at  that  time 
by  the  more  solid  of  our  men  of  affairs  who  were  antagonistic  to  the 
administration 's  policy  was  that  we  should  intervene ;  that  we  should 
bring  order  to  Mexico  by  force. 

"No  one  then  believed  and  no  one  really  believes  now  that  the 
recognition  of  Huerta  would  have  solved  the  Mexican  problem.  We 
do  know,  however,  one  thing  that  we  were  not  conscious  of  then,  that 
Huerta  himself  had  so  slight  a  hold  upon  Mexico  that  he  did  not  dare 
to  leave  the  capital  and  that  he  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a 
prisoner  of  the  reactionaries,  able  only  to  reach  the  sea  at  its  nearest 
point. 

"Although  it  is  self-evident  that  this  country,  as  the  champion  of 
constitutional  government  in  America,  can  never  recognize  a  military 
despotism  based  upon  assassination,  it  is  not  necessary  to  call  Huerta 
an  assassin  in  order  to  justify  our  refusal  to  recognize  him.  His 
attempted  dictatorship  was  but  a  fiction  of  government.  With  the 
elected  President  and  Vice-President  murdered  and  the  minister  of 


396  APPENDIX 

state,  who  was  their  lawful  successor,  cowed  into  submission,  Huerta 
took  the  reins  of  power  at  the  best  as  a  temporary  stop-gap. 

';The  revolution  against  Huerta  broke  out  immediately  upon  the 
news  of  Madero's  death.  The  correspondence  between  Huerta  and 
Carranza  recently  published  shows  that  every  practical  inducement 
was  held  out  to  Carranza  to  put  an  end  to  his  revolutionary  move 
ment.  To  Carranza 's  credit,  be  it  said,  he  refused  to  come  to  terms 
with  those  who  he  believed  had  been  the  cause  of  the  President's 
death  and  who  had  set  to  one  side  the  laws  of  his  country. 

"  It  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  Huerta  did  not  pretend  even  to  be  a 
constitutional  ruler.  He  sent  word  to  the  United  States  that  he  had 
taken  the  Government  of  Mexico  into  his  own  hands  and  that  he  was 
all  the  law  that  was  to  be  found  in  Mexico.  His  statement  was  so 
bold  that  even  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mexico  uttered  a  feeble  protest, 
which  was  somewhat  more  loudly  echoed  in  the  Mexican  Senate. 

' '  In  the  face  of  this  Huerta  asked  for  recognition  from  the  United 
States,  but  President  Taft  felt  that  he  could  not  conscientiously  grant 
it,  and  he  left  the  problem  to  be  dealt  with  by  his  successor,  who  had 
already  been  elected.  That  was  the  situation  when  President  Wilson 
took  office.  Could  President  Wilson  have  recognized  Huerta  ?  Surely 
there  can  be  but  one  answer  to  that  question — No! 

' '  To  have  recognized  Huerta  would  have  been  a  twofold  injustice : 
First,  to  the  people  of  Mexico,  and,  secondly,  to  all  the  people  of 
South  and  Central  America.  To  give  to  the  commander-in-chief  of  an 
army  recognition  as  President  under  such  circumstances  would  have 
been  to  announce  to  all  ambitious  military  officers  that  they  had  but 
to  ally  themselves  with  a  successful  junta,  seize  the  Government  by 
force,  murder  the  lawful  incumbents,  and  announce  the  overthrow  of 
all  law  and  a  supreme  military  dictatorship  in  order  to  gain  the 
recognition  of  the  United  States,  we  being  thoroughly  aware  of  all 
that  had  happened. 

"Americans  are  justified  in  the  pride  that  through  the  operation 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  there  is  gradually  growing  up  in  the  New 
World  a  civilization  that  will  make  old-time  revolutionary  methods 
impossible,  that  will  carry  forward  all  of  the  twenty-one  Republics 
to  the  unification  of  our  international  interests  in  the  true  spirit  of 
Pan  Americanism.  We  have  so  amplified  the  Monroe  Doctrine  that  we 
are  virtually  the  copartners  of  the  Republics  to  the  south  of  us,  and  to 
proclaim  that  the  violation  of  their  constitutional  laws  would  not  in 
the  slightest  interfere  with  our  recognition  of  a  conspiracy  to  murder 
lawful  executives  and  overthrow  their  established  republican  forms 
of  government  would  have  been  rightly  considered  by  the  American 


APPENDIX  397 

people  as  the  most  cowardly  and  short-sighted  policy  imaginable. 
Condemnation  would  have  arisen  not  -only  from  the  people  of  the 
United  States  but  from  all  the  nations  of  the  Pan  American  Union. 

"During  Huerta 's  regime  we  learned  much  of  the  ability  of  the 
Mexican  as  a  casuist.    The  notes  that  came  from  Mexico  were  models 
of  the  seventeenth-century  style  of  diplomatic  state  paper.    President  j  X 
Wilson  attempted,  it  will  be  remembered,  to  find  a  basis  upon  which  ' 
there  could  be  set  up  in  Mexico  a  government  that  we  could  recog 
nize.     There  was  nothing  peremptory  about  our  attitude  in  the  be 
ginning  of  the  diplomatic  exchanges. 

"Our  whole  effort  was  to  the  obtaining  of  a  republican  form  of 
government  in  Mexico  which  would  have  the  people  back  of  it,  and 
guarantees  against  the  establishment  of  an  absolutism  on  our  southern 
border  under  which  the  people  of  Mexico  would  so  chafe  that  we 
should  have  a  constant  state  of  revolution  there. 

"Many  of  the  best  Mexicans  were  in  sympathy  with  the  attitude 
that  the  United  States  took  toward  Huerta.  They  knew  that  stability 
of  government  was  not  to  be  hoped  for  under  a  man  of  his  tempera 
ment  and  disposition.  After  it  became  evident,  by  continued  nego 
tiation  which  ended  nowhere,  that  Huerta  was  standing,  so  to  speak, 
in  the  City  of  Mexico  heaping  insolence  on  the  United  States,  Presi 
dent  Wilson  gave  notice  that  Huerta  must  go. 

"Then  followed  the  Tampico  incident.  Our  sailors  landed  at 
Tampico  and  were  arrested,  marched  through  the  streets  in  ignominy, 
and  eventually  returned  to  their  boat.  The  admiral  in  charge  was  so 
incensed  at  their  treatment  that  he  immediately  made  upon  Huerta  a 
demand  that  a  national  salute  should  be  fired  in  atonement  for  the 
insult  to  the  flag.  Again  the  Mexican  Government  attempted  to  con 
tinue  its  policy  of  diplomatic  quibbling. 

"Meanwhile  the  revolution  had  gained  such  headway  in  the  north 
that  it  was  difficult  from  day  to  day  to  say  which  force  had  or  occu 
pied  the  greatest  portion  of  Mexican  territory.  Huerta  was  keeping 
up  his  resistance  because  he  was  being  supplied  with  ammunition  from 
abroad.  A  ship  was  reported  ready  to  land  at  Vera  Cruz  with  a 
cargo  of  arms,  and  as  a  warning  to  Huerta  and  in  proof  of  the  seri 
ousness  of  our  purpose  to  bring  Huerta  to  a  recognition  of  our  atti 
tude,  the  order  was  given  to  seize  the  custom  house  and  occupy  the 
port  of  Vera  Cruz. 

"We  did  not  go  to  Vera  Cruz  to  force  Huerta  to  salute  the  flag. 
We  did  go  there  to  show  Mexico  that  we  were  in  earnest  in  our  demand 
that  Huerta  must  go.  and  he  went  before  our  forces  were  withdrawn. 
The  occupation  of  Vera  Cruz  was  carried  out  without  difficulty,  with 


398  APPENDIX 

the  loss  of  nineteen  of  our  brave  sailors  and  marines,  and  if  aggres 
sion  and  intervention  had  been  our  aim  we  could  have  easily  seized  the 
railroad  to  Mexico  City  and  occupied  the  capital. 

"The  menacing  attitude  of  the  Mexican  troops  surrounding  our 
force  of  occupation  at  Vera  Cruz  made  hostilities  appear  imminent, 
and  again  the  strongest  kind  of  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  President  to  intervene,  that  we  should  go  into  Mexico  and  take 
matters  into  our  own  hands.  This  is  the  one  thing  that  the  President 
has  set  his  face  against  from  the  first.  It  is  the  thing  to  which  this 
administration  is  opposed  so  long  as  any  other  hope  holds  out." 

"But,  Mr.  Secretary,"  I  asked,  "could  not  the  United  States  have 
done  in  Mexico  what  it  did  in  Cuba?" 

"No,"  said  Mr.  Lane,  "we  could  not.  That  is  a  very  common 
delusion,  but  the  Mexican  situation  is  not  at  all  that  which  we  met 
in  Cuba.  We  went  in  there  at  the  request  of  the  revolutionists  and 
after  the  Maine  had  been  sunk  in  Havana  harbor,  and  such  authority 
as  there  was  in  Cuba  had  thus  evidenced  its  hostility.  We  could 
go  in  and  did  go  in  there  with  some  heart,  fighting  alongside  of  the 
revolutionists  against  a  monarchy,  but  we  could  not  go  in  with  any 
heart  to  fight  against  the  Mexicans  who  are  struggling  to  find  a  way  to 
popular  government.  But  to  return  to  the  facts : 

"We  had  sought  to  bring  to  our  sympathetic  support  all  of  the 
South  American  countries.  They  also  were  anxious  for  a  settlement 
of  this  trouble  upon  some  basis  that  would  safeguard  the  interests  of 
Mexico  and  conserve  that  unity  which  is  the  soul  of  the  great  Pan 
American  movement.  Some  of  them  thought  that  they  saw  a  greedy 
hand  from  the  north  reaching  down  with  no  benevolent  purpose,  and 
if  it  laid  hold  of  Mexico  none  of  them  knew  but  that  it  might  be  their 
turn  next. 

' '  This  fear  of  the  big  brother  is  a  very  real  one  in  Latin  America. 
They  do  not  know  us  intimately;  they  are  suspicious  of  our  motives. 
They  think  of  the  Mexican  War  of  1846  as  an  unjustifiable  aggression 
on  our  part;  they  think  of  the  Panama  incident  as  a  robbery;  they 
misconstrue  our  purpose  in  Santo  Domingo,  and  in  Nicaragua,  and 
they  do  not  trust  us.  They  fear  that  the  spirit  of  imperialism  is  upon 
the  American  people  and  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  may  be  construed 
some  day  as  a  doctrine  that  will  give  the  whole  Western  Hemisphere 
to  the  United  States ;  that  it  is  a  doctrine  of  selfishness  and  not  a  doc 
trine  of  altruism. 

"Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  feeling  of  the  South  and  Central 
American  countries  toward  the  United  States  know  that  just  at  that 
time,  when  our  forces  occupied  Vera  Cruz,  a  very  intense  fear  had 


APPENDIX  399 

seized  upon  Latin  America.  They  believed  in  their  hearts  that  we 
were  on  our  march  southward  and  that  the  President's  Mobile  speech 
and  other  generous  utterances  of  the  same  sort  were  to  be  taken  in  a 
Pickwickian  sense. 

''When  they  presented  a  plan  of  mediation,  the  United  States 
had  no  choice  but  to  accept  it.  Indeed,  if  we  had  refused  to  accept  it, 
Latin  America  would  have  been  justified  in  doubting  our  good  faith. 
No  one  that  I  am  aware  of,  either  ^Republican  or  Democrat,  has  ever 
criticized  the  President  for  accepting  the  mediation  of  Argentina, 
Brazil,  and  Chile,  and  abiding  strictly  by  the  agreement  reached  at 
Niagara  Falls. 

"By  the  protocols  there  signed  on  June  23,  1914,  the  United 
States  agreed  that  the  selection  of  a  provisional  and  constitutional 
President  be  left  wholly  to  the  Mexicans,  and  we  guaranteed  our 
recognition  of  them  when  chosen.  This  made  clear  our  desire  not  to 
interfere  in  any  way  in  the  settlement  of  Mexico's  domestic  troubles, 
and  as  a  further  proof  of  our  disinterested  friendship  for  the  Mexican 
people  the  United  States  agreed  not  to  claim  any  war  indemnity  or 
other  international  satisfaction  from  Mexico.  We  had  gone  to  Vera 
Cruz  'to  serve  mankind.'  Our  only  quarrel  was  with  Huerta,  and 
Huerta  got  out  'on  July  16,  1914.  Our  forces  were  withdrawn  from 
Vera  Cruz  on  November  23  following. 

"Three  days  after  Huerta  left  Mexico  Villa  began  levying  taxes 
on  his  own  authority,  and  it  was  plain  that  the  successful  revolution 
ists  would  soon  be  fighting  between  themselves.  Both  Carranza  and 
Villa  agreed  to  a  conference  at  Aguascalientes,  and  it  was  stipulated 
that  no  soldiers  were  to  be  there ;  but  Villa  turned  up  with  an  armed 
force  that  terrorized  the  convention  and  prevented  it  from  recog 
nizing  Carranza,  and  in  a  short  while  open  warfare  began  between  the 
two  factions. 

"Villa  and  Carranza  had  broken,  and  there  was  a  double  sov 
ereignty  claimed  even  on  our  border  in  northern  Mexico.  Things 
were  going  from  bad  to  worse,  and  it  was  suggested  in  the  Cabinet 
that  there  should  be  some  determination  by  the  United  States  as  to 
which  of  the  rival  claimants  to  power  in  Mexico  as  leader  of  a  suc 
cessful  revolution  should  be  recognized  as  a  de  facto  government. 

"Secretary  of  State  Lansing  thereupon  called  a  conference  of  the 
representatives  of  Argentina,  Brazil,  Chile,  Bolivia,  Uruguay,  and 
Guatemala  and  asked  them,  from  their  knowledge  of  the  situation — for 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  information  in  the  hands  of  the  United 
States  came  through  the  representatives  of  these  countries  in  Mexico — 
to  co-operate  with  him  in  the  determination  of  the  claimant  to  be 


400  APPENDIX 

recognized.  These  six  Latin-American  Catholic  countries  unani 
mously  recommended  the  recognition  of  Carranza,  and  in  furtherance 
of  our  Pan  American  policy  this  recognition  was  at  once  given  by  the 
United  States  and  Latin  America. 

"  Since  Carranza 's  recognition  we  have  seen  Americans  who  have 
gone  into  Mexico  on  peaceful  errands  murdered;  we  have  seen  our 
own  towns  upon  the  border  raided  and  Americans  slain  on  American 
soil.  These  outrages  prompted  President  Wilson  to  send  our  troops 
into  Mexico,  and  this  course  cannot  be  otherwise  construed  than  as  a 
recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  de  facto  Government  of  Mexico, 
recognized  by  ourselves  and  by  other  nations,  is  not  fulfilling  the  duty 
which  one  Government  owes  to  another. 

"We  are  in  Mexico  to-day,  and  how  long  we  shall  stay  and  how 
far  we  shall  go  depends  upon  the  policy  and  the  power  to  keep  the 
peace  of  the  Carranza  Government,  but  we  shall  go  no  further  than 
we  have  gone  until  every  effort  to  secure  effective  Mexican  eo-opera- 

7"  n  fails." 
Then  Mr.  Lane  proceeded  to  an  examination  of  the  principles 
governing  the  policy  of  the  United  States  toward  Mexico  and  of  the 
needs  of  the  Mexican  people.    He  said : 

''There  are  things  that  a  democracy  must  always  be  willing  to 
fight  for.  But  what  thing  is  there  that  any  American  can  say  we 
ought  to  be  willing  to  fight  for  in  Mexico?  Is  it  because  railroads 
built  with  American  capital  have  been  damaged,  that  mines  have 
been  shut  down,  or  even  that  American  citizens  have  been  killed  by 
outlaws  and  bandits? 

"All  those  things  we  can  and  do  very  much  regret,  but  who  will 
say  they  are  great  principles  for  which  a  democracy  should  be  willing 
to  sacrifice  the  blood  of  its  sons  ?  Who  can  formulate  out  of  the  whole 
history  of  the  past  six  years  any  other  determination  than  this :  That 
we  should  resist  the  temptation  to  fight  where  pride  and  interest 
move  us  in  that  direction,  and  that  we  should  and  will  fight  when 
we  are  attacked  and  when  we  find  no  other  means  by  which  our  inter 
ests  can  be  safeguarded  and  Mexico  be  given  any  hope  of  itself? 

"We  have  been  on  the  edge  of  war  with  Mexico  several  times  in 
the  last  three  years,  but  each  time,  before  the  determination  was  made 
that  we  should  discard  our  hopes,  there  has  opened  some  way  by  which 
reasonable  men  might  expect  that  Mexico  could  prove  herself  able 
to  take  care  of  her  own  problems.  The  one  man  who  can  justifiably 
criticize  President  Wilson  for  his  Mexican  policy  is  the  man  who  hon 
estly  believes  that  Mexico  cannot  be  brought  to  stability  of  government 
and  responsibility  except  through  the  exercise  of  outside  force.  That 


APPENDIX  401 

man  is  consistent,  and  the  only  criticism  I  have  to  make  of  him  is  a 
criticism  of  his  judgment. 

"There  is  no  question  that  we  could  easily  overrun  Mexico.  I 
believe  we  could  do  it  with  a  comparatively  few  men,  although  we 
would  have  a  united  Mexico  against  us.  There  would  be  no  glory  in 
such  a  war,  and  there  is  not  one  man  in  ten  thousand  in  this  country 
who  really  wants  such  a  war.  It  would  be  repugnant  to  every  Ameri 
can  tradition  and  would  discourage  the  friendship  of  every  other 
American  nation.  Of  course  we  could  conquer  Mexico,  and  after  a 
good  deal  of  guerrilla  warfare  we  could  bring  Mexico  to  a  state  of 
quiet. 

"Then  we  could  hold  her  while  we  administered  to  her  the  medi 
cine  that  we  believe  she  needs.  We  could  have  what  we  call  a  general 
cleaning  up,  the  rebuilding  of  her  railroads,  of  her  wagon  roads,  the 
construction  of  sewers  for  her  cities,  the  enforcement  of  health  regu 
lations,  and  all  the  other  things  that  go  to  make  up  the  outward  and 
visible  signs  of  order  and  good  government. 

"But  don't  you  see  that  the  peace  we  would  bring  would  be  a 
peace  imposed  by  force,  the  government  we  would  give  to  Mexico 
would  be  the  kind  of  government  that  we  have  and  which  makes  life 
tolerable  to  us  in  our  communities  ?  Its  standards  would  not  be  Mexi 
can  standards,  its  ideals  would  not  be  Mexican  ideals,  its  genius 
would  not  be  Mexican  genius.  The  moment  we  withdrew  from 
Mexico  there  would  be  a  return  after  a  very  short  time  to  Mexican 
standards. 

"What  Mexico  really  needs  and  must  be  allowed  to  do  is  to  raise 
her  own  standards;  it  is  to  give  herself  a  cleaning  up  by  herself. 
That  is  bound  to  take  time,  but  in  no  other  way  can  Mexico  get  a 
government  that  will  be  expressive  of  her  own  ideals,  that  will  be 
expressive  of  some  aspiration  of  her  own  as  to  what  her  civilization 
should  be,  and  in  this  we  want  to  be  of  help  to  Mexico  if  she  will 
allow  us  to  do  so. 

' '  The  Mexican  problem,  as  a  problem,  depends  upon  your  attitude 
toward  other  peoples.  Mexico  is  a  land  to  conquer,  and  the  Mexican 
people  are  a  people  to  be  conquered  and  subordinated  and  the  country 
and  its  resources  made  ours,  if  you  look  upon  a  smaller  and  less 
highly  civilized  country  as  a  proper  object  of  exploitation.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mexico  is  a  country  out  of  which  something  greater  can 
be  made,  and  the  Mexican  people  are  a  people  who  have  possibilities 
and  can  be  helped  to  become  a  self-governing  nation,  and  if  you  take 
that  attitude  toward  Mexico  you  are  bound  to  sympathize  with  their 
struggle  upward. 


402  APPENDIX 

"In  other  words,  where  we  find  that  conditions  justify  revolu 
tion,  if  we  think  it  our  business  to  go  in  and  work  the  revolution  to 
our  profit,  we  must  condemn  the  President's  policy;  but  if,  where  we 
find  conditions  justify  revolution,  we  want  to  give  that  revolution  a 
chance  to  work  out  from  the  inside,  we  must  hold  up  his  hands." 

"What  are  the  things  that  Mexico  needs,  Mr.  Secretary?"  I  asked. 
"What  is  necessary  for  a  return  to  peace  and  order?"  Mr.  Lane 
said : 

' '  The  things  that  Mexico  needs  are  few,  but  they  are  fundamental. 
A  land-tax  system  which  will  make  it  impossible  to  hold  great  bodies 
of  idle  land  for  selfish  reasons  and  which  will  make  it  unnecessary 
for  the  Government  to  sell  concessions  in  order  to  support  itself. 
A  school  system  by  which  popular  education  may  be  given  to  all  the 
people  as  it  is  given  in  the  United  States.  If  Diaz  had  done  this, 
as  he  promised,  he  would  have  created  an  active  public  opinion  in 
Mexico  which  would  have  made  present  conditions  impossible. 

"Along  with  the  primary  schools  should  go  agricultural  schools  in 
which  modern  methods  of  agriculture  should  be  taught.  The  army 
might  well  be  used  as  a  sanitation  corps,  so  as  to  insure  against  the 
recurrence  of  those  plagues  which  so  affect  trade  relations  with  Mexico 
and  the  health  of  her  people.  With  these  things,  Mexico  would  be  well 
started  on  her  way  toward  that  better  era  which  her  more  intelligent 
revolutionists  thought  she  had  reached  in  the  early  days  of  the  Diaz 
administration,  some  forty  years  ago. 

"Everyone  in  Mexico  is  united  upon  the  proposition  that  the 
present  land  system  is  based  upon  privilege  and  is  unjust.  I  have 
talked  with  twenty  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  intelligent  men  who 
belonged  to  the  Diaz  regime.  All  have  admitted  the  fact.  Some  have 
even  volunteered  the  statement  that  Mexico  is  in  a  feudal  state,  and 
that  the  land  belongs  to  great  proprietors,  who  work  the  peons  and 
keep  them  in  a  semi-slave  condition.  If  the  facts  were  better  realized, 
the  people  of  the  United  States  would  not  stand  for  the  labor  condi 
tions  that  exist  in  Mexico,  and  for  the  peonage,  which  is  only  a  form 
of  slavery.  I  have  some  personal  knowledge  of  these  conditions. 

' '  One  morning  ten  years  ago  I  was  on  a  coffee  finca — a  great  estate 
high  up  in  the  Sierra  Madre— and  I  asked  a  peasant  who  labored  from 
sunrise  to  sunset  what  he  was  getting  for  his  day's  work.  His  answer 
was  60  cents  in  Guatemalan  money,  which  was  equal  to  10  cents  gold. 
Here  was  a  strong,  able-bodied  agricultural  laborer  earning  $3  a 
month.  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  go  down  to  the  railroad,  where 
the  American  contractors  would  pay  him  50  cents  or  more  a  day. 
His  answer  was,  'I  would  not  be  from  here  one  mile  before  Don 


APPENDIX  403 

Porfirio  would  have  reached  out  his  hand  and  drawn  me  back  to  jail. ' 
I  said,  'Why  could  he  arrest  you?'  and  the  answer  given  me,  falter- 
ingly  and  in  fear,  was,  'Because  I  owe  the  store.' 

' '  He  had  lived  and  worked  on  that  finca  for  twelve  years ;  alive  or 
dead,  he  is  there  to-day,  unless  he  has  run  away  to  join  an  army  in 
the  revolution.  I  asked  that  Mexican  peon  where  he  had  come  from, 
and  he  pointed  across  the  mountains  to  a  valley  where  his  people  had 
lived  for  a  thousand  years.  'Why  did  you  leave  there?  '  I  inquired. 
His  answer  was  that  Don  Porfirio  had  given  the  land  where  he  was 
born  to  a  Chinaman. 

"From  an  investigation  I  made  myself  I  found  out  that  this  was 
literally  true;  that  the  land,  which  was  the  hereditary  possession  of 
these  Indians,  had  been  taken  from  them  by  the  Government  and 
given  to  a  greater  'company'  on  terms  which  one  can  only  guess;  that 
the  'company'  had  sold  the  land  to  a  syndicate,  in  which  there  were 
no  Americans,  upon  condition  that  it  should  be  populated  under  a 
law  somewhat  similar  to  our  homestead  law,  with  the  reservation  that 
it  was  neither  to  go  to  Mexican  natives  nor  to  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  immigrants  with  which  the  syndicate  was  populating 
that  part  of  Mexico  were  Chinamen. 

' '  I  crossed  a  bridge  on  the  Camino  Keal.  '  The  last  time  I  crossed 
that  bridge,'  said  the  peon  who  was  with  me,  'the  governor  of  the 
State  was  lying  there  dead.  He  had  become  ambitious  and  presented 
to  the  people  a  program  of  reform.  Doubtless  he  hoped  to  be  another 
Juarez,  and  Don  Porfirio  had  ended  his  ambitions.'  The  peon  of 
Mexico— and  out  of  possibly  15,000,000  inhabitants  at  least  12,000,000 
are  peons — is  a  kindly  and  gentle  creature  under  normal  conditions, 
disregardful  of  his  own  life  but  not  anxious  to  make  war  on  anyone. 
The  peon  has  it  forced  upon  his  mind  that  he  belongs  to  a  definite 
sphere  of  life,  and  so  he  is  without  ambition  and  without  foresight; 
but  he  is  not  without  intelligence,  and  he  makes  an  excellent  workman 
when  taught.  All  he  needs  is  a  chance  to  live  and  a  chance  to  learn, 
land  to  cultivate,  and  schools  to  go  to.  Is  it  conceivable  that  to  add  to 
the  miseries  of  these  struggling  people  any  American  citizen  would 
want  to  make  war  on  them? 

"We  of  the  United  States  have  the  impulse  that  all  virile  people 
have.  We  feel  conscious  of  our  ability  to  do  a  job  in  nation  making 
much  better  than  anyone  else.  Read  over  Kipling's  poem,  'The 
White  Man's  Burden.'  It  was  not  so  much  the  white  man's  duty  to 
clean  up  insanitary  conditions  on  the  outskirts  of  civilization  and  to 
develop  the  backward  peoples  of  the  earth  that  he  was  expressing 
as  it  was  our  perfect,  self-complacent  appreciation  of  our  supreme 


404  APPENDIX 

ability  to  do  the  cleaning  up  better  than  any  other  people  on  the 
face  of  the  globe. 

"There  is  a  good  deal  of  the  special  policeman,  of  the  sanitary 
engineer,  of  the  social  worker,  and  of  the  welfare  dictator  about  the 
American  people.  We  are  quite  conscious  that  in  the  development  of 
this  great  country  of  ours,  in  our  march  across  the  continent,  we 
have  done  a  perfectly  good  job,  and  the  pioneering  spirit  is  very  much 
alive.  It  is  one  of  the  most  fundamental  instincts  that  has  made  white 
men  give  to  the  world  its  history  for  the  last  thousand  years. 

"As  a  great  Nation,  dedicated  to  democracy,  we  cannot  under 
take  a  war  of  conquest  against  a  people  because  their  moral  develop 
ment  has  been  neglected  by  their  former  rulers.  We  can,  however, 
insist,  and  we  must  insist,  that  these  people  shall  make  safe  our 
borders  and  give  protection  to  the  lives  and  property  of  our  nationals 
who  have  settled  in  Mexico  at  her  invitation." 

"But  is  there  no  way,  Mr.  Secretary,  in  which  the  United  States 
can  help  Mexico  on  the  road  to  progress?"  I  asked.  Mr.  Lane  said: 

"To  directly  offer  help  to  Mexico  would  be  looked  upon  by  them 
as  an  insult,  like  slapping  them  in  the  face.  This  is  a  kind  of  pride 
that  is  purely  Latin.  It  is  an  inheritance  that  comes  to  Mexico  by  way 
of  Spain  along  with  the  ideals  that  Cervantes  ridicules  in  'Don 
Quixote ' ;  but  it  is  so  real  a  thing  that  no  progress  can  be  made  with 
out  recognizing  it.  So  I  say  that  to  tell  Mexico  what  she  shall  do  in 
our  straight-out  American  fashion,  to  say  to  Mexico,  We  are  going  to 
help  you  without  being  invited  to  do  so,  is  equivalent  under  present 
conditions  to  a  declaration  of  war. 

"The  Mexicans  do  not  believe  in  our  professions  of  altruism. 
We  must  say  to  Mexico  one  of  two  things :  Either  you  must  keep  our 
border  safe  and  protect  the  rights  of  our  nationals  in  Mexico,  which 
you  have  not  done,  or  we  will  invade  your  country  and  restore  order 
ourselves;  or  we  must  say  to  Mexico,  We  understand  the  effort  you 
are  making  to  give  the  people  a  chance  for  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness,  and  we  will  gladly  help  you  if  you  ask  our  help  to 
accomplish  this  end. 

"The  last  is  the  policy  that  the  United  States  has  been  seeking 
to  put  into  effect.  The  difficulty  in  doing  this  arises  almost  solely 
out  of  the  difficulty  we  Americans  have  in  persuading  the  peoples 
of  Latin  America  that  our  intentions  are  really  honest. 

"Nor  is  this  altogether  to  be  wondered  at.  Latin  America  has 
known  the  American  chiefly  as  a  seeker  after  concessions,  a  land 
grabber  and  an  exploiter.  Even  where  the  American  has  bought 
property,  as  many  have  who  to-day  hold  perfectly  legal  title  to  the 


APPENDIX  405 

land,  they  are  absentee  landlords,  and  every  just  criticism  that  the 
Irishman  has  had  to  make  against  the  absentee  English  landlord  can 
be  made  against  the  absentee  American  landlord  in  Mexico. 

"He  does  not  become  a  part  of  Mexico;  he  does  not  throw  in  his 
lot  with  the  Mexicans.  He  is  willing  to  spend  his  money  there  and 
employ  labor,  but  he  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  people  of  the 
country.  The  Mexican  feels  that  the  American  goes  there  only  to  get 
rich  out  of  the  land  and  labor  of  Mexico ;  that  he  comes  to  exploit,  not 
to  develop." 

Mr.  Lane  had  risen.  He  was  standing  on  the  raised  veranda  of 
his  camp  overlooking  the  placid  waters  of  Lake  Champlain.  "There 
are  just  two  more  things  that  I  want  to  say,"  he  continued. 

"There  has  never  been  a  time  since  the  United  States  estab 
lished  the  present  Mexican  border  under  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo  when  raids,  small  or  great,  have  not  taken  place  across  that 
border,  and  sometimes  Americans  have  been  the  raiders — we  may  as 
well  acknowledge  the  fact.  Furthermore,  there  never  has  been  a  time 
since  the  United  States  was  founded  when  Mexico  itself  was  a  whole 
in  the  control  of  any  one  Government.  Even  Diaz  never  had  the 
Yaqui  Indian  country,  never  really  controlled  Sonora. 

"A  police  force  alone  has  been  a  failure  in  Mexico.  A  failure 
both  as  far  as  the  Mexicans  are  concerned  and  in  protecting  Ameri 
can  life  and  American  property.  American  life  and  American  prop 
erty  have  both  been  repeatedly  assailed  and  destroyed  during  every 
administration.  The  protection  of  our  people  there  has  always  been  a 
problem,  and  I  believe  always  will  be  a  problem.  This  hazard  any 
foreigner  takes  who  goes  into  a  country  filled  with  people  who  would 
risk  their  lives  for  a  horse  or  a  saddle. 

"Further,  I  say  this:  That  looking  at  Mexico  solely  from  the 
standpoint  of  allowing  our  miners,  our  engineers,  and  our  capitalists 
to  develop  that  country  for  their  own  benefit,  and  only  incidentally 
for  the  benefit  of  Mexico,  a  policy  of  force  is  all  that  Mexico  needs. 
It  is  the  only  policy  that  has  ever  been  tried  upon  the  Mexican  people, 
and  it  has  proved  a  success  for  the  exploitation  of  the  country  by  out 
siders.  If,  however,  we  look  at  the  Mexican  question  from  the  stand 
point  of  the  Mexican,  is  the  policy  of  force  adequate  to  the  problem? 
No  one  who  has  studied  it  will  say  so.  The  truth  is  this : 

"Mexico  will  never  be  a  nation  in  any  real  sense,  nor  will  the 
Mexicans  ever  be  a  people  of  agricultural,  commercial,  industrial,  or 
political  consequence  until  the  individual  Mexican  has  had  an  economic 
and  an  educational  chance.  He  must  be  tied  to  Mexico,  and  not  to  a 
landlord,  by  the  ownership  of  a  piece  of  land ;  he  must  be  able  to  read 


406  APPENDIX 

and  write,  so  that  he  may  know  what  the  needs  of  civilization  are. 
This  policy  is  that  which  I  characterized  as  a  policy  of  hope  and 
hopefulness.  It  is  founded  on  doubt  and  despair.  It  refuses  to  recog 
nize  the  Mexican  who  can  only  be  shot  into  keeping  order. 

"If  we  despair  of  these  people,  who  is  to  be  their  friend?  Are 
we  Americans  to  see  Mexico  forever  remain  a  land  of  a  few  rich  and 
cultivated  gentlemen,  and  12,000,000  half-starved,  ill-clothed,  and  il 
literate  peasants — men,  women,  and  children — kept  in  slavery  and 
subjection  and  ignorance,  a  people  into  whose  lives  comes  nothing  that 
raises  them  above  the  beasts  of  the  field? 

"The  people  of  the  United  States  cannot  conceive  of  such  condi 
tions.  Is  it  not  time  to  try  another  policy  than  that  of  force  alone, 
which  has  failed  so  miserably  and  wrought  such  woe?  Is  President 
Wilson  to  be  criticized  because  he  believes  that  it  is  not  idealistic,  not 
outside  the  range  of  reasonable  hope,  to  think  of  America  as  the  help 
ful  friend  of  Mexico  ?  Why  may  not  Mexico  be  led  to  see  that  we  are 
honest  in  our  willingness  to  help  and  that  we  can  do  it? 

"President  Wilson  has  clearly  seen  the  end  that  he  desired  from 
the  first,  and  he  has  worked  toward  it  against  an  opposition  that  was 
cunning  and  intensive,  persistent  and  powerful.  If  he  succeeds  in 
giving  a  new  birth  of  freedom  to  Mexico,  he  most  surely  will  receive 
the  verdict  of  mankind." 


APPENDIX  407 


THE  MEXICAN  QUESTION 

(3)  THE  ARTICLE  BY  PRESIDENT  WILSON  REPRINTED  HERE  APPEARED 
IN  THE  ISSUE  OF  THE  "LADIES'  HOME  JOURNAL"  FOR  OCTOBER,  1916 

Large  questions  are  difficult  to  state  in  brief  compass,  but  they 
can  be  intelligently  comprehended  only  when  fully  stated,  and  must 
to  all  candid  persons  seem  worthy  of  the  pains.  The  Mexican  question 
has  never  anywhere  been  fully  stated,  so  far  as  I  know,  and  yet  it  is 
one  which  is  in  need  of  all  the  light  that  can  be  thrown  upon  it,  and 
can  be  intelligently  discussed  only  by  those  who  clearly  see  all  that 
is  involved. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  not  a  question  which  can  be  treated  by 
itself  as  only  a  matter  between  Mexico  and  the  United  States.  It 
is  a  part,  a  very  intimate  part,  of  the  Pan-American  question.  The 
two  Americas  can  be  knitted  together  only  by  processes  of  peace, 
friendship,  helpfulness,  and  good  will,  and  the  nation  which  must  of 
necessity  take  the  initiative  in  proving  the  possibility  of  these  proc 
esses  is  the  United  States. 

A  discussion  of  the  Pan-American  question  must  always  begin 
with  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  very  little  light  will  be  thrown  upon  it 
unless  we  consider  the  Monroe  Doctrine  from  the  point  of  view  of 
Latin-America  rather  than  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  United 
States. 

In  adopting  the  Monroe  Doctrine  the  United  States  assumed  the 
part  of  Big  Brother  to  the  rest  of  America.  The  primary  purpose 
of  the  policy  was  to  prevent  the  extension  to  the  American  Hemisphere 
of  European  influences,  which  seemed  likely  to  involve  South  America 
and  eventually  ourselves  as  well  in  the  net  of  European  intrigue 
and  reaction  which  was  in  that  day  being  spread  with  so  wide  a  sweep 
of  purpose.  But  it  was  not  adopted  at  the  request  of  the  American 
Republics.  While  it  no  doubt  made  them  measurably  free  from  the 
fear  of  European  aggression  or  intervention  in  their  affairs,  it  neither 
gave  nor  implied  any  guarantee  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
that  we  would  use  our  power  for  their  benefit  and  not  for  our  own 
aggrandizement  and  advantage. 

As  the  power  of  the  United  States  has  increased,  the  uneasiness 


408  APPENDIX 

of  the  Latin-American  republics  has  increased  with  regard  to  the  use 
we  might  make  of  that  power  in  dealing  with  them. 

Unfortunately  we  gave  one  very  disquieting  example  of  what  we 
might  do  when  we  went  to  war  with  Mexico  in  Mr.  Folk's  time  and 
got  out  of  that  war  a  great  addition  to  our  national  territory. 

The  suspicion  of  our  southern  neighbors,  their  uneasiness  as  to 
our  growing  power,  their  jealousy  that  we  should  assume  to  play  Big 
Brother  to  them  without  their  invitation  to  do  so,  has  constantly  stood 
in  the  way  of  the  amicable  and  happy  relations  we  wished  to  establish 
with  them.  Only  in  very  recent  years  have  they  extended  their 
hands  to  us  with  anything  like  cordiality,  and  it  is  not  likely  that 
we  shall  ever  have  their  entire  confidence  until  we  have  succeeded  in 
giving  them  satisfactory  and  conclusive  proofs  of  our  own  friendly 
and  unselfish  purpose. 

What  is  needed  for  the  firm  establishment  of  their  faith  in  us 
is  that  we  should  give  guaranties  of  some  sort,  in  conduct  as  well  as 
in  promise,  that  we  will  as  scrupulously  respect  their  territorial 
integrity  and  their  political  sovereignty  as  we  insist  that  European 
nations  should  respect  them. 

If  we  should  intervene  in  Mexico,  we  would  undoubtedly  revive 
the  gravest  suspicions  throughout  all  the  states  of  America.  By 
intervention  I  mean  the  use  of  the  power  of  the  United  States  to 
establish  internal  order  there  without  the  invitation  of  Mexico  and 
determine  the  character  and  method  of  her  political  institutions.  We 
have  professed  to  believe  that  every  nation,  every  people,  has  the 
right  to  order  its  own  institutions  as  it  will,  and  we  must  live  up  to 
that  profession  in  our  actions  in  absolute  good  faith. 

Moreover,  "order"  has  been  purchased  in  Mexico  at  a  terrible 
cost  when  it  has  been  obtained  by  foreign  assistance.  The  foreign 
assistance  has  generally  come  in  the  form  of  financial  aid.  That 
financial  aid  has  almost  invariably  been  conditioned  upon  "conces 
sions"  which  have  put  the  greater  part  of  the  resources  of  the 
country  which  have  as  yet  been  developed  in  the  hands  of  foreign 
capitalists,  and  by  the  same  token  under  the  "protection"  of  foreign 
governments. 

Those  who  have  successfully  maintained  stable  order  in  Mexico 
by  such  means  have,  like  Diaz,  found  that  they  were  the  servants, 
not  of  Mexico,  but  of  foreign  concessionaires. 

The  economic  development  of  Mexico  has  so  far  been  accomplished 
by  such  "concessions"  and  by  the  exploitation  of  the  fertile  lands  of 
the  republic  by  a  very  small  number  of  owners  who  have  accumulated 


APPENDIX  409 

under  one  title  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres,  swept  within  one 
ownership  the  greater  part  of  states,  and  reduced  the  population  of 
the  country  to  a  sort  of  peonage. 

Mexico  is  one  of  the  treasure  houses  of  the  world.  It  is  exceed 
ingly  to  be  desired  by  those  who  wish  to  amass  fortunes.  Its  resources 
are  indeed  serviceable  to  the  whole  world  and  are  needed  by  the 
industries  of  the  whole  world.  No  enterprising  capitalist  can  look 
upon  her  without  coveting  her.  The  foreign  diplomacy  with  which 
she  has  become  bitterly  familiar  is  the  "dollar  diplomacy,"  which 
has  almost  invariably  obliged  her  to  give  precedence  to  foreign  inter 
ests  over  her  own.  What  she  needs  more  than  anything  else  is  financial 
support  which  will  not  involve  the  sale  of  her  liberties  and  the  enslave 
ment  of  her  people. 

Property  owned  by  foreigners,  enterprises  conducted  by  foreigners, 
will  never  be  safe  in  Mexico  so  long  as  their  existence  and  the  method 
of  their  use  and  conduct  excite  the  suspicion  and,  upon  occasion,  the 
hatred  of  the  people  of  the  country  itself. 

I  would  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  all  or  even  the  majority 
of  the  foreigners  who  have  owned  property  in  Mexico  or  who  have 
developed  her  extraordinary  resources  have  acted  in  a  way  to  excite 
the  jealousy  or  deserve  the  dislike  of  the  people  of  the  country.  It 
is  fortunately  true  that  there  have  been  a  great  many  who  acted  with 
the  same  honor  and  public  spirit  there  that  characterized  them  at 
home,  and  whose  wish  it  has  never  been  to  exploit  the  country  to  its 
own  hurt  and  detriment. 

I  am  speaking  of  a  system  and  not  uttering  an  indictment.  The 
system  by  which  Mexico  has  been  financially  assisted  has  in  the  past 
generally  bound  her  hand  and  foot  and  left  her  in  effect  without  a 
free  government.  It  has  almost  in  every  instance  deprived  her 
people  of  the  part  they  were  entitled  to  play  in  the  determination  of 
their  own  destiny  and  development. 

This  is  what  every  leader  in  Mexico  has  to  fear,  and  the  history 
of  Mexico's  dealings  with  the  United  States  cannot  be  said  to  be 
reassuring. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  the  United  States  must  do  as  she  is 
doing — she  must  insist  upon  the  safety  of  her  borders;  she  must,  so       />/ 
fast  as  order  is  worked  out  of  chaos,  use  every  instrumentality  she 
can  in  friendship  employ  to  protect  the  lives  and  the  property  of  her 
citizens  in  Mexico. 

But  she  can  establish  permanent  peace  on  her  borders  only  by  a 
resolute  and  consistent  adoption  in  action  of  the  principles  which 


410  APPENDIX 

underlie  her  own  life.  She  must  respect  the  liberties  and  the  self- 
government  of  Mexicans  as  she  would  respect  her  own.  She  has  pro 
fessed  to  be  the  champion  of  the  rights  of  small  and  helpless  states, 
and  she  must  make  that  profession  good  in  what  she  does.  She  has 
professed  to  be  the  friend  of  Mexico,  and  she  must  prove  it  by  seeing 
to  it  that  every  step  she  takes  is  a  step  of  friendship  and  helpfulness. 

Our  own  principles  and  the  peace  of  the  world  are  conditioned 
upon  the  exemplification  of  those  professions  in  action  by  ourselves 
and  by  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  our  dealings  with  Mexico 
afford  us  an  opportunity  to  show  the  way. 

Mexico  must  no  doubt  struggle  through  long  processes  of  blood 
and  terror  before  she  finds  herself  and  returns  to  the  paths  of  peace 
and  order;  but  other  nations,  older  in  political  experience  than  she, 
have  staggered  and  struggled  through  these  dark  ways  for  years 
together  to  find  themselves  at  last,  to  come  out  into  the  light,  to 
know  the  price  of  liberty,  to  realize  the  compulsion  of  peace,  and  the 
orderly  processes  of  law. 

It  is  painful  to  observe  how  few  of  the  suggestions  as  to  what 
the  United  States  ought  to  do  with  regard  to  Mexico  are  based  upon 
sympathy  with  the  Mexican  people  or  any  effort  even  to  understand 
what  they  need  and  desire.  I  can  say  with  knowledge  that  most  of 
the  suggestions  of  action  come  from  those  who  wish  to  possess  her, 
who  wish  to  use  her,  who  regard  her  people  with  condescension  and 
a  touch  of  contempt,  who  believe  that  they  are  fit  only  to  serve  and 
not  fit  for  liberty  of  any  sort.  Such  men  can  not  and  will  not 
determine  the  policy  of  the  United  States.  They  are  not  of  the  true 
American  breed  or  motive. 

America  will  honor  herself  and  prove  the  validity  of  her  own 
principles  by  treating  Mexico  as  she  would  wish  Mexico  to  treat  her. 


APPENDIX  411 


(4)  MEMORANDUM  ON  THE  RIGHT  OP  AMERICAN  CITIZENS  TO  TRAVEL 
UPON  ARMED  MERCHANT  SHIPS,  TRANSMITTED  TO  THE  COM 
MITTEE  ON  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRE 
SENTATIVES,  MARCH  4,  1916 

The  question  to  be  considered  in  the  present  memorandum  is 
whether  Americans  intending  to  travel  on  armed  belligerent  merchant 
vessels  should  be  warned  by  the  United  States  that  in  doing  so  they 
travel  at  their  own  risk,  and  that  the  United  States  should  so  warn  its 
citizens  about  to  embark  upon  armed  belligerent  merchant  vessels. 
This  raises  the  question  whether  or  not  a  neutral  citizen  and  subject 
can  avail  himself  of  a  belligerent  armed  vessel  for  the  transport  of  his 
person  or  goods,  the  determination  of  which  seems  to  depend  upon  the 
further  and  the  fundamental  question  whether  a  belligerent  merchant 
ship  may,  without  violation  of  law,  carry  armament  to  defend  itself 
against  attack  upon  the  high  seas. 

The  conclusions  to  be  sustained  by  this  memorandum,  and  which 
it  is  believed  are  supported  by  the  practice  of  nations,  are  that  a  neu 
tral  has  the  right  to  transport  his  person  and  property  upon  armed 
belligerent  merchant  ships;  that  the  vessels  so  armed  may  defend 
themselves  if  attacked  by  the  enemy ;  that,  in  so  doing,  they  are  within 
their  rights  under  the  law  of  nations  as  interpreted  and  applied  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States;  and  that  the  neutral  does 
not  partake  of  a  belligerent  character  although  he  is  on  board  the  bel 
ligerent  merchant  vessel,  nor  does  he  sacrifice  his  neutral  character  nor 
the  neutral  quality  of  his  goods,  according  to  the  law  of  nations  as 
interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  if  the  armed 
belligerent  merchant  vessel  resists  attack,  unless  the  neutral  actually 
took  part  in  the  hostilities  committed  under  these  circumstances  by 
the  armed  belligerent  merchant  vessel  upon  which  his  person  may 
happen  to  be. 

The  memorandum  will  also  endeavor  to  show  that,  while  the  out 
break  of  war  authorizes  a  belligerent  to  capture  the  private  property 
of  his  enemy  upon  the  high  seas,  the  declaration  of  war  does  not 
operate  as  a  confiscation  of  the  property,  but  only  authorizes  the  bel 
ligerent  to  use  the  force  necessary  to  capture  the  property,  and  that, 
according  to  the  law  of  nations,  the  formalities  hitherto  recognized 
must  be  complied  with — namely,  that  a  merchant  vessel  of  the  enemy 
before  capture  must  be  summoned  to  surrender,  and  that  upon  its 
surrender,  whether  after  the  use  of  force  or  an  attempt  to  escape  the 


412  APPENDIX 

capturing  vessel,  it  shall  not  be  sunk  or  destroyed  without  first  putting 
in  a  place  of  safety  the  persons  on  board  and,  if  possible,  the  property ; 
that  the  use  of  an  agent  or  instrumentality  such  as  the  submarine  that 
does  not  and  cannot  comply  with  these  requirements  is  not  authorized 
by  the  law  of  nations  to  capture  the  enemy  vessel ;  that  the  law  ought 
not  to  be  changed  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  submarine  or  of  the 
belligerent,  but  that  the  agency  of  the  belligerent  ought  to  be  changed 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  law ;  and  that  the  requirements  of  this 
law  cannot  be  overcome  by  an  ex  parte  announcement  or  warning 
issued  by  a  belligerent  government  that  it  will  destroy  without  warn 
ing  any  merchant  vessel  of  the  enemy  which  the  commanding  officer 
of  that  vessel  may,  before  visit  and  search,  decide  to  be  an  armed 
enemy  vessel. 

The  right  of  a  belligerent  vessel  to  arm  is  not  the  result  of  a 
sudden  decision  on  the  part  of  a  belligerent  in  order  to  protect  h.is 
merchant  vessels  from  capture  upon  the  high  seas,  but  has  been  for 
centuries  the  practice  of  nations.  An  armed  merchant  vessel  differs 
from  a  privateer,  which  was  a  vessel  owned  by  a  private  person — 
although  commissioned  by  a  belligerent  and,  by  virtue  of  its  com 
mission,  authorized  to  commit  hostilities  and  to  make  captures — in 
that  the  merchant  vessel  carries  its  armament  for  defensive  purposes 
and  is  not  commissioned  by  the  government  whose  flag  it  flies.  It  is 
therefore  a  merchant  vessel,  having  none  of  the  marks  of  a  war  vessel, 
and  its  arms  are  for  purely  defensive  purposes,  to  protect  it  from 
capture,  a  protection  it  would  enjoy  without  armament  if  the  policy  of 
the  United  States,  extending  over  a  period  of  a  century,  were  recog 
nized  to-day — as  it  was,  in  1785,  recognized  by  Prussia  in  the  treaty 
of  September  10  of  that  year.  It  is  not,  however,  necessary  to  con 
sider  this  matter  in  the  light  of  history  or  in  the  light  of  theory,  be 
cause,  in  so  far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned,  the  right  of  an 
enemy  merchant  vessel  to  arm  itself  for  defensive  purposes  has  been 
solemnly  adjudged  in  the  case  of  the  Nereide  (9  Cranch  388),  decided 
in  1815,  and,  upon  reconsideration,  affirmed  three  years  later  in  the 
case  of  the  Atalanta  (3  Wheaton  409).  The  judgment  of  the  court 
in  the  first,  which  is  the  leading  case  on  the  subject,  was  written  and 
delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  m  the  course  of  which  he  said : 

A  belligerent  has  a  perfect  right  to  arm  in  his  own  defence  and  a 
neutral  has  a  perfect  right  to  transport  his  goods  in  a  belligerent  ves 
sel.  These  rights  do  not  interfere  with  each  other.  The  neutral  has 
no  control  over  the  belligerent  right  to  arm — ought  he  to  be  account 
able  for  the  exercise  of  it?  By  placing  neutral  property  in  a  belliger 
ent  ship,  that  property,  according  to  the  positive  rules  of  law,  does 


APPENDIX  413 

not  cease  to  be  neutral.  Why  should  it  be  changed  by  the  exercise  of 
a  belligerent  right,  universally  acknowledged,  and  in  common  use  when 
the  rule  was  laid  down,  and  over  which  the  neutral  had  no  control? 

The  Nereide  was  a  British  merchant  vessel.  It  was  not  commis 
sioned,  so  that  it  did  not  partake  of  any  of  the  characteristics  or  enjoy 
the  rights  or  privileges  then  accorded  to  privateers,  and  which  the 
United  States  at  the  present  day  could  accord  to  its  privateers  if  it 
availed  itself  of  the  right  to  use  them.  It  was  armed  for  defense.  It 
was  attacked  and  it  defended  itself.  The  neutral,  with  his  cargo,  was 
aboard  the  vessel.  He  took  no  part  in  the  armed  resistance,  and  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  laid  down  the  rule  that  neither 
his  rights  as  a  neutral  nor  his  property  as  that  of  a  neutral  were 
affected  by  the  resistance  to  the  capture  by  the  belligerent  armed  ship. 
As  this  decision  is  so  important,  and  is  binding  upon  the  United  States 
— for  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  a  point  of  law  binds  all 
departments  of  the  Government  until  it  is  changed,  which  it  has  not 
been  to  the  present  day — it  is  more  advisable  to  quote  certain  por 
tions  of  the  opinion  to  the  Court  rather  than  to  indulge  in  theoretical 
speculations,  however  well  grounded  they  may  appear.  Thus,  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  said: 

That  a  neutral  may  lawfully  put  his  goods  on  board  a  belligerent 
ship  for  conveyance  on  the  ocean,  is  universally  recognized  as  the 
rightful  rule  of  the  law  of  nations.  It  is,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
founded  on  the  plain  and  simple  principle,  that  the  property  of  a 
friend  remains  his  property,  wherever  it  may  be  found.  "Since  it  is 
not,"  says  Vattel,  "the  place  where  a  thing  is,  which  determines  the 
nature  of  that  thing,  but  the  character  of  the  person  to  whom  it  be 
longs,  things  belonging  to  neutral  persons,  which  happen  to  be  in  an 
enemy's  country,  or  on  board  an  enemy's  ships  are  to  be  distinguished 
from  those  which  belong  to  the  enemy."  Bynkershoek  lays  down  the 
same  principles  in  terms  equally  explicit;  and  in  terms  entitled  to 
the  more  consideration,  because  he  enters  into  the  inquiry  whether  a 
knowledge  of  the  hostile  character  of  the  vessel,  <?an  affect  the  owner 
of  the  goods.  The  same  principle  is  laid  down  by  other  writers  on  the 
same  subject,  and  is  believed  to  be  contradicted  by  none.  It  is  true, 
there  were  some  old  ordinances  of  France,  declaring  that  a  hostile 
vessel  or  cargo  should  expose  both  to  condemnation;  but  these  ordi 
nances  have  never  constituted  a  rule  of  public  law. 

After  laying  down  this  general  principle  and  supporting  it  by  author 
ity,  if  authority  other  than  that  of  his  own  great  name  and  of  his 
unanswerable  reasoning  be  required,  the  great  Chief  Justice  continues : 

It  is  deemed  of  much  importance,  that  the  rule  is  universally  laid 
down  in  terms  which  comprehend  an  armed  as  well  as  an  unarmed 
vessel;  and  that  armed  vessels  have  never  been  excepted  from  it. 


414  APPENDIX 

Bynkershoek,  in  discussing  a  question,  suggesting  an  exception,  with 
his  mind  directed  to  hostilities,  does  not  hint  that  this  privilege  is 
confined  to  unarmed  merchantmen.  In  point  of  fact,  it  is  believed, 
that  a  belligerent  merchant  vessel  rarely  sails  unarmed,  so  that  this 
exception  from  the  rule  would  be  greater  than  the  rule  itself.  At 
all  events,  the  number  of  those  who  are  armed,  and  who  sail  under 
convoy,  is  too  great,  not  to  have  attracted  the  attention  of  writers 
on  public  law:  and  this  exception  to  their  broad  general  rule,  if  it 
existed,  would  certainly  be  found  in  some  of  their  works.  It  would 
be  strange,  if  a  rule  laid  down,  with  a  view  to  war,  in  such  broad 
terms  as  to  have  universal  application,  should  be  so  construed,  as  to 
exclude  from  its  operation  almost  every  case  for  which  it  purports 
to  provide,  and  yet  that  not  a  dictum  should  be  found  in  the  books, 
pointing  to  such  construction.  The  antiquity  of  the  rule  is  certainly 
not  unworthy  of  consideration.  It  is  to  be  traced  back  to  the  time 
when  almost  every  merchantman  was  in  a  condition  of  self-defence, 
and  the  implements  of  war  were  so  light  and  so  cheap,  that  scarcely 
any  would  sail  without  them. 

But  the  Chief  Justice  was  not  content  to  lay  down  principles.  He 
stated  and  answered  the  arguments  which  had  been  addressed  to  the 
court  in  the  trial  of  the  case.  Thus : 

To  the  argument,  that  by  placing  his  goods  in  the  vessel  of  an 
armed  enemy,  he  connects  himself  with  that  enemy,  and  assumes  the 
hostile  character ;  it  is  answered,  that  no  such  connection  exists.  The 
object  of  the  neutral  is  the  transportation  of  his  goods.  His  connec 
tion  with  the  vessel  which  transports  them  is  the  same,  whether  that 
vessel  be  armed  or  unarmed.  The  act  of  arming  is  not  his — it  is  the 
act  of  a  party  who  has  a  right  so  to  do.  He  meddles  not  with  the 
armament,  nor  with  the  war.  Whether  his  goods  were  on  board  or  not, 
the  vessel  would  be  armed  and  would  sail.  His  goods  do  not  con 
tribute  to  the  armament,  further  than  the  freight  he  pays,  and  freight 
he  would  pay,  were  the  vessel  unarmed.  It  is  difficult  to  perceive 
in  this  argument  anything  which  does  not  also  apply  to  an  unarmed 
vessel.  In  both  instances,  it  is  the  right  and  the  duty  of  the  carrier  to 
avoid  capture,  and  to  prevent  a  search.  There  is  no  difference,  except 
in  the  degree  of  capacity  to  carry  this  duty  into  effect.  The  argument 
would  operate  against  the  rule  which  permits  the  neutral  merchant  to 
employ  a  belligerent  vessel,  without  imparting  to  his  goods  the  bel 
ligerent  character. 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  this  passage  the  Chief  Justice,  speak 
ing  under  a  sense  of  judicial  responsibility  and  passing  adversely 
upon  a  contention  advanced  by  his  own  government  in  the  war  of  1812 
with  Great  Britain,  states  it  to  be  "both  the  right  and  the  duty  of 
the  carrier  to  avoid  capture  and  to  prevent  a  search, ' '  whether  the 
vessel  be  armed  or  unarmed.  Having  stated  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  carrier  to  avoid  capture,  the  conclusion  necessarily  follows,  which 
the  Chief  Justice  himself  draws  in  the  succeeding  paragraph,  that 


APPENDIX  415 

"the  argument  respecting  resistance  stands  on  the  same  ground  with 
that  with  respect  to  arming.  Both  are  lawful.  Neither  of  them  is 
chargeable  to  the  goods  or  their  owner,  where  he  has  taken  no  part  in 
it.  They  are  incident  to  the  character  of  the  vessel  and  may  always 
occur  where  the  carrier  is  belligerent." 

In  a  later  passage  of  his  opinion,  Chief  Justice  Marshall  assimilates 
the  status  of  passengers  to  the  status  of  cargo,  and  in  so  doing  ac 
knowledges  the  right  of  passengers  to  their  neutral  character  upon  a 
belligerent  armed  merchant  vessel,  just  as  the  property  of  such  a 
person  is  regarded  as  neutral  property.  Thus  he  says : 

If  the  neutral  character  of  the  goods  is  forfeited  by  the  resistance 
of  the  belligerent  vessel,  why  is  not  the  neutral  character  of  the  pas 
sengers  forfeited  by  the  same  cause  ?  The  master  and  crew  are  prison 
ers  of  war,  why  are  not  those  passengers  who  did  not  engage  in  the 
conflict,  also  prisoners?  That  they  are  not,  would  seem  to  the  court 
to  afford  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  goods.  The  law  would 
operate  in  the  same  manner  on  both. 

Recapitulating,  it  appears  to  be  incontrovertible  that  the  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  solemnly  acknowledges 
the  right  of  a  belligerent  to  resist  attack,  and  that  this  right  is  to  be 
considered  not  merely  as  a  decision  of  the  United  States  on  this  point 
but  as  a  decision  in  accordance  with  the  dictates  of  international  law, 
based  upon  universal  usage  and  authority,  which  the  Chief  Justice 
applied,  and  which  he  was  obliged  to  apply,  in  a  case  involving  its 
principles.  It  also  appears  to  be  incontrovertible  that  the  vessel  not 
merely  had  the  right  to  arm  and  to  resist,  but,  in  the  language  of 
the  Chief  Justice,  it  was  "the  duty  of  the  carrier  to  avoid  capture" 
by  the  use  of  such  arms  and  resistance,  and,  as  the  Chief  Justice  said 
in  another  passage,  "she  had  a  right  to  defend  herself,  did  defend 
herself,  and  might  have  captured  an  assailing  vessel;"  and  that  the 
neutral  has  the  right  to  be  a  passenger  and  to  transport  his  prop 
erty  on  such  a  vessel,  and  does  not  have  his  neutral  character  ques 
tioned,  even  although  the  ship,  armed  for  defensive  purposes,  exer 
cises  the  right  by  resisting  capture. 

This  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  delivered  in  this  instance  by 
Chief  Justice  Marshall,  has  not  been  overruled  and  is  the  law  of  the 
land  at  the  present  day. 

A  right  which  has  been  shown  universally  to  exist  is  presumed  to 
continue  to  exist  until  it  has  been  shown  that  it  no  longer  does  ex 
ist,  and  any  country  claiming  that  the  law  has  ceased  to  exist  cannot 
relieve  itself  of  the  burden  of  proof ;  and  in  this  connection  another 
passage  is  quoted  from  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 


416  APPENDIX 

United  States,  likewise  delivered  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall.  In  speak 
ing  of  the  slave  trade,  which  was  at  that  time  lawful,  Chief  Justice 
Marshall  said,  in  the  case  of  the  Antelope  (10  Wheaton  66,  122),  de 
cided  in  1825 : 

In  this  commerce  thus  sanctioned  by  universal  assent,  every  na 
tion  had  an  equal  right  to  engage.  How  is  this  right  to  be  lost  ?  Each 
may  renounce  it  for  its  own  people;  but  can  this  renunciation  affect 
others  ? 

No  principle  of  general  law  is  more  universally  acknowledged,  than 
the  perfect  equality  of  nations.  Eussia  and  Geneva  have  equal  rights. 
It  results  from  this  equality,  that  no  one  can  rightfully  impose  a  rule 
on  another.  Each  legislates  for  itself,  but  its  legislation  can  operate 
on  itself  alone.  A  right,  then,  which  is  vested  in  all,  by  the  consent 
of  all,  can  be  divested  only  by  consent;  and  this  trade,  in  which  all 
have  participated,  must  remain  lawful  to  those  who  can  not  be  induced 
to  relinquish  it.  As  no  nation  can  prescribe  a  rule  for  others,  none 
can  make  a  law  of  nations;  and  this  traffic  remains  lawful  to  those 
whose  governments  have  not  forbidden  it. 

A  careful  examination  fails  to  disclose  any  action  taken  to  ques 
tion  the  lawfulness  of  belligerent  merchant  vessels  to  arm  in  self- 
defense.  The  abolition  of  privateering  by  the  Declaration  of  Paris — 
to  which,  however,  the  United  States  was  not  and  is  not  now  a  party — 
did  not  affect  the  right  of  a  private  merchant  vessel  to  carry  and  to  use 
arms  in  self-defense,  because  the  Declaration  of  Paris  abolished  merely 
the  right  of  privateering,  and  did  not  directly  or  indirectly  affect 
the  rights  or  duties  or  the  privileges  of  private  merchant  vessels,  as 
such.  The  right,  therefore,  of  merchant  vessels  to  arm  in  self-defense 
was  unaffected  by  the  Declaration  of  Paris  and  there  is  no  other  inter 
national  convention  or  international  act  to  be  found  questioning  the 
existence  of  that  right. 

In  some  quarters  the  claim  has  been  advanced  that  merchant  ves 
sels  armed  for  defense  are  practically  privateers.  This  claim  has  no 
basis  in  fact.  A  privateer  was  a  private  vessel,  admittedly  armed 
for  offense  and  acting  under  a  letter  of  marque  or  other  government 
commission  which  removed  it  from  the  class  of  merchant  vessels.  By 
the  fact  of  the  government  commissions,  privateers  were  authorized  to 
act  offensively  without  committing  a  breach  of  the  laws  of  warfare, 
and  the  captain  and  owners  of  the  privateer  were  further  placed  under 
a  measure  of  government  responsibility  to  which  the  owner  and  cap 
tain  of  an  ordinary  merchant  vessel  are  not  subject.  A  merchant 
vessel  armed  for  defense  only  is  one  whose  status  is  entirely  un 
changed  except  for  her  armament.  She  does  not  operate  under  any 
commission  of  the  government  and  her  captain  and  owners  are  not  in 


APPENDIX  417 

any  special  sense  responsible  to  the  government  by  virtue  of  any 
commission  or  other  governmental  authority  issued  in  her  behalf. 
Should  she  use  her  armament  offensively  she  will  thereby  render  her 
self  liable  to  the  consequent  results  under  international  law;  but  the 
mere  fact  of  her  having  an  armament  on  board  does  not  change  her 
status  from  that  of  a  merchant  vessel  to  that  of  a  vessel  of  war,  which 
a  privateer  was. 

The  right  of  a  merchant  vessel  so  to  arm  was  not  questioned  until 
the  actions  of  belligerents  indicated  an  intention  on  their  part  to  use 
converted  merchant  vessels  for  offensive  purposes,  and  for  fear  that 
unconverted  merchant  vessels  should  be  so  used,  the  Second  Hague 
Peace  Conference  laid  down  the  conditions  upon  which  merchant  ships 
might  be  incorporated  in  the  fighting  fleet  in  time  of  war.  This  Con 
vention  was  signed  and  ratified  by  both  Germany  and  Great  Britain, 
and  regardless  of  any  technical  question  as  to  whether  it  is  in  force  in 
the  present  war,  may  be  taken  as  indicating  their  views  upon  this 
subject  which  has  now  become  so  important.  According  to  the  Con 
vention,  before  a  merchant  vessel  may  be  considered  a  warship  it 
must: 

1.  Be  placed  under  the  direct  authority,  immediate  control,  and 
responsibility  of  the  power  whose  flag  it  flies  (Art.  2). 

2.  It  must  bear  the  external  marks  which  distinguish  the  war 
ships  of  their  nationality  (Art.  2). 

3.  The  commander  must  be  in  the  service  of  the  state  and  duly 
commissioned  by  the  competent  authorities.     His  name  must  figure 
on  the  list  of  the  officers  of  the  fighting  fleet  (Art.  3). 

4.  The  crew  must  be  subjected  to  military  discipline  (Art.  4) . 

5.  A  belligerent  who  converts  a  merchant  ship  into  a  warship 
must  as  soon  as  possible  announce  such  conversion  in  the  list  of  war 
ships  (Art.  6). 

In  the  face  of  the  provisions  of  this  Convention,  one  of  the  signa 
tory  and  ratifying  powers  seeks  to  maintain  that  a  merchant  vessel 
may  be  considered  a  warship,  regardless  of  whether  the  provisions 
of  this  Convention  have  or  have  not  been  complied  with.  It  is  sig 
nificant,  in  this  connection,  that  the  United  States,  in  order  to  retain 
full  liberty  of  action  with  reference  to  the  use  of  merchant  ships  in 
time  of  war,  neither  signed,  ratified,  nor  adhered  to  this  Con 
vention. 

The  declared  intention  of  belligerents  to  convert  merchant  vessels 
to  war  vessels  and  the  policy  of  nations  to  have  merchant  vessels  built 
in  such  a  way  that  they  might  carry  armament,  and  thus  be  more  use 
ful  when  converted,  suggested  the  possibility  that  merchant  vessels 


418  APPENDIX 

of  belligerents  might,  by  means  of  defensive  armament,  exercise  their 
right  (and  their  duty,  according  to  Chief  Justice  Marshall)  to  defend 
themselves  from  capture  by  these  converted  merchantmen,  whereas 
they  would  not  have  been  able  to  offer  resistance  to  heavily  armed 
men-of-war  built  solely  for  offensive  purposes. 

The  question,  therefore,  as  to  the  right  of  merchant  vessels  to 
arm  became  a  subject  of  discussion  and  a  matter  of  moment  to  those 
nations  which  might  wish  to  use  converted  merchant  vessels  as  com 
merce  destroyers. 

The  question  of  the  right  of  merchant  vessels  to  arm  and  to  de 
fend  themselves  was  carefully  considered  just  a  year  before  the  out 
break  of  the  war  of  1914,  in  the  session  of  the  Institute  of  Interna 
tional  Law,  composed  of  distinguished  publicists  of  the  different  coun 
tries,  which,  meeting  at  Oxford,  England,  in  August,  1913,  adopted 
a  Manual  of  the  Laws  of  Maritime  Warfare.  Article  13  of  the  project 
of  the  Commission  charged  with  the  preparation  of  the  Manual  reads 
as  follows : 

Privateering,  Private  vessels,  Public  vessels  not  vessels  of  war. — 
Privateering  is  forbidden. 

In  addition  to  the  conditions  laid  down  in  Articles  3  and  following, 
public  vessels  and  vessels  belonging  to  private  persons,  as  well  as  their 
personnel,  cannot  commit  acts  of  hostility  against  the  enemy. 

It  is  permitted,  however,  to  vessels  of  each  of  these  two  classes  to 
employ  force  to  defend  themselves  against  the  attack  of  an  enemy 
vessel. 

The  discussion  of  the  meeting  turned  entirely  upon  the  last  para 
graph.  Dr.  Triepel  of  Germany  asked  its  suppression,  saying:  "A 
ship  of  commerce  never  has  the  right  of  defending  herself  even  if  the 
attack  of  which  it  is  the  object  is  illegitimate.  It  is  not  for  her  to 
make  herself  the  judge  on  this  point."  His  point  of  view  was  opposed 
by  Dr.  Fiore,  of  Italy,  who  said  that  if  private  ships  can  never  attack 
it  is  at  least  legal  for  them  to  defend  themselves,  and  even  make 
legitimately  a  prize  under  this  hypothesis  if  they  find  they  have  the 
material  and  force  necessary.  He  congratulated  himself  at  seeing  in 
the  text  of  the  commission  the  confirmation  of  this  rule  of  Italian 
legislation,  and  later  on  he  said:  "The  question  is  at  bottom  very 
simple.  Force  should  be  able  to  be  repulsed  by  force  in  whatever 
manner  this  manifests  itself,"  and  asked  the  vote  on  Article  13  just 
as  it  stood.  Lord  Reay,  of  Great  Britain,  supported  Dr.  Fiore 's  view 
of  voting  Article  13  just  as  it  was  written  in  the  projet,  and  he  men 
tioned  that  the  legitimacy  of  the  permission  given  by  the  Admiralty 
to  certain  large  liners  to  have  four  guns  on  board  has  been  contested, 


APPENDIX  419 

even  by  distinguished  persons.  The  text  of  paragraph  3  of  Article 
12  would  cause  every  objection  to  disappear  on  this  point.  Lord 
Reay  asked  of  the  Institute  to  announce  for  ships  of  commerce  the 
right  of  legitimate  defense  in  the  conditions  contemplated.  The 
article  was  adopted  as  written  in  the  pro  jet  by  a  large  majority  and 
is  now  published  as  a  part  of  the  Manual  in  the  Annuaire  of  the  In 
stitute.  The  whole  Manual  was  adopted  by  53  out  of  54  members 
present,  one  (an  Italian  delegate)  abstaining. 

In  the  discussion,  Dr.  Niemeyer,  a  delegate  from  Germany,  said 
that  the  right  of  self-defense  against  an  act  of  force  goes  without 
saying,  and  he  proposed  to  suppress  the  last  paragraph  of  Article  12 
(13  of  the  pro  jet),  for  the  reason  that  the  fact  of  inserting  a  pro 
vision  of  that  kind  was  equivalent  to  a  concession  that  a  contrary 
opinion  was  possible.  It  is  thus  seen  that  the  delegates  from  Ger 
many  were  not  in  accord  among  themselves,  and  in  view  of  the  large 
majority  in  favor  of  Article  12  and  of  the  final  almost  unanimous 
approval  of  the  total  Manual,  it  appears  that  very  recent  and  very 
intelligent  opinion  supports  the  view  that  the  arming  of  merchant 
ships  for  defense  is  entirely  proper,  and  that  such  an  armament  may 
be  used  properly  for  defense. 

Considering  that  the  right  of  a  belligerent  merchant  vessel  to 
arm  itself  for  defensive  purposes  is  in  accordance  with  the  practice 
and  the  law  of  nations,  and  that  it  was  as  laid  down  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  considering  also  that  the  right  has 
been  carefully  considered  and  examined  by  an  unofficial  but  scientific 
body,  whose  views  have  influenced,  and  rightly,  the  actions  of  govern 
ments,  the  question  naturally  arises,  if  the  belligerent  can  capture 
private  property  of  the  enemy  upon  the  high  seas,  what  are  the  condi 
tions,  if  any,  which  must  regulate  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  capture  ? 
The  statement  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall  in  the  case  of  the  Nereide  is 
sufficient  authority  for  the  right  of  a  belligerent  to  capture  the  pri 
vate  property  of  the  enemy,  if  authority  were  needed,  but  the  point 
is  so  well  admitted  that  a  quotation  of  authority  for  this  universally 
acknowledged  right  would  be  a  waste  of  time.  It  should  be  said, 
however,  in  this  connection,  that  the  immunity  of  private  property 
on  the  high  seas  has  been  the  traditional  policy  advocated  by  the 
United  States,  formulated  by  this  Government  before  the  existence  of 
the  present  Constitution,  and  this  Government  therefore  would  not  be 
justified  in  relaxing  the  rules  relating  to  capture. 

Universal  practice  permits  the  capture  of  private  property  of  the 
enemy  upon  the  high  seas.  The  fact,  however,  that  neutrals  may  be 
interested  in  property  on  board  of  a  captured  ship  has  resulted  in  the 


420  APPENDIX 

enlightened  practice  obtaining  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war  of  1914, 
to  preserve  the  property  captured,  and  to  pass  it  before  a  prize  court 
in  order  to  determine  the  validity  of  the  prize  by  a  court  of  justice 
passing  upon  the  evidence  in  the  case,  instead  of  virtually  allowing 
a  naval  commander  to  set  up  a  prize  court  upon  the  quarterdeck  to 
determine  the  enemy  character  and  to  take  such  action  as  might  occur 
to  him  in  the  premises.  The  practice  of  nations  before  the  outbreak 
of  the  present  war  was  for  a  belligerent  vessel  having  to  make  capture 
to  summon  the  vessel  suspected  of  being  an  enemy  ship  to  lie  to.  If 
it  did  not  do  so,  the  belligerent  war  vessel  was  authorized  to  proceed 
to  the  use  of  force  necessary  to  complete  surrender.  If  the  enemy 
vessel  attempted  to  escape  it  was  the  right  of  the  belligerent  man-of- 
war  to  give  pursuit  and  to  use  such  force  as  was  at  its  disposal  to 
compel  the  ship  to  halt,  even  although  the  vessel  should  be  sunk  in 
the  conflict.  The  practice  which  crystallized  into  law  on  the  question 
was  that,  as  the  enemy  vessel  had  the  right  and  the  duty,  as  Chief 
Justice  Marshall  said,  to  avoid  capture,  either  by  resisting  attack  or 
by  escaping  if  it  were  able,  the  vessel  so  exercising  its  right  and  per 
forming  its  duty  was  not  subjected  to  punishment  therefor;  and  en 
lightened  practice  at  the  outbreak  of  the  current  war  required  that 
the  vessel  should  not  be  sunk  if  it  could  be  taken  into  port,  or,  if  it 
was  sunk,  that  this  should  not  be  done  until  the  persons  on  board  and, 
if  possible,  the  property,  had  been  saved.  This  was  the  procedure 
prescribed  in  the  Imperial  German  Prize  Ordinance,  issued  on  the  3d 
day  of  August,  1914. 

The  right  of  a  submarine  to  carry  on  hostile  operations  is  not 
questioned.  It  is  a  public  vessel,  built  for  a  military  purpose,  duly 
commissioned,  under  command  of  commissioned  naval  officers,  with  a 
crew  subjected  to  military  discipline.  It  therefore  is  a  man-of-war 
and  entitled  to  exercise  the  rights  thereof  in  so  far  as  her  structure 
and  personnel  permit  such  exercise  in  accordance  with  international 
law.  It  is  likewise  bound  by  all  the  obligations  resting  upon  a  man- 
of-war.  It  does  not  have  any  greater  rights  than  a  man-of-war  would 
have,  and  is  not  relieved  of  any  duties  of  a  man-of-war  which  operates 
upon  the  surface.  It  may  summon  a  merchant  vessel  to  lie  to.  It 
can,  however,  exercise  the  right  of  visit  and  search  under  exceptional 
circumstances  only.  Its  limited  personnel  does  not  admit  of  furnish 
ing  prize  crews.  On  the  other  hand,  it  cannot  take  on  board  the  per 
sonnel  of  captured  ships  to  insure  their  safety  if  the  destruction 
of  the  prize  is  intended.  Its  commander  can  rarely,  if  ever,  secure 
the  papers  on  board  a  prize.  In  fact,  it  is  a  vessel  which  was  origi 
nally  designed  for  military  action  against  military  vessels,  where 


APPENDIX  421 

safety  of  personnel  and  warning  of  attack  are  not  essential.  By  its 
limitations  it  cannot,  unless  the  circumstances  be  exceptional,  act  as 
a  cruiser  against  commerce  and  fulfill  the  requirements  of  inter 
national  law  and  the  dictates  of  ordinary  humanity. 

If  the  United  States  yields  the  point  that  its  citizens  have  not 
the  right  to  travel  on  armed  merchant  ships  of  belligerents,  to  the  ex 
tent  of  the  public  warning  by  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Govern 
ment  to  United  States  citizens  not  to  take  passage  on  such  vessels,  it 
will,  in  the  face  of  its  own  precedents,  in  effect  consent  to  a  change  of 
international  law,  which  will  result  to  the  advantage  of  one  belligerent 
and  to  the  disadvantage  of  his  adversaries.  This  would  be  unneutral. 
Furthermore,  it  would  be  consenting  to  a  change  of  international  law 
during  war,  a  thing  against  which  the  United  States  has  earnestly 
and  steadily  protested  in  other  international  questions  that  have 
arisen  during  the  war. 

The  conditions  under  which  enemy  merchant  vessels  can  be  de 
stroyed  were  correctly  laid  down  by  the  German  Government  in  offi 
cial  instructions  issued  to  its  naval  officers  at  the  beginning  of  the  war. 
The  German  Prize  Code  (Prizenordnung)  of  the  30th  September, 
1909,  and  issued  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  is  given  in  its  amended 
form  as  in  force  July  1,  1915,  after  the  submarine  warfare  against 
merchant  vessels  had  begun,  in  a  book  entitled  TTie  German  Prize 
Code,  translated  by  Huberich  and  King  (Baker,  Voorhis  &  Co.,  New 
York,  1915).  Articles  113  to  116,  inclusive,  and  Articles  118  and 
119  refer  to  the  destruction  of  prizes.  Article  113  refers  to  the  de 
struction  of  neutral  prizes.  Article  114  reads,  translated: 

Before  the  commander  determines  on  the  destruction  of  a  vessel, 
he  must  consider  whether  the  damage  thereby  done  to  the  enemy  will 
outweigh  the  damages  payable  for  the  parts  of  the  cargo  not  subject 
to  condemnation  (op.  arts.  18,  42,  51,  56  and  80),  and  which  are  de 
stroyed  at  the  same  time. 

Article  18,  referred  to  in  Article  114,  must  be  read  in  connection 
with  Article  17.  Those  two  articles  read  as  follows : 

17.  A  captured  enemy  vessel  is  subject  to  condemnation. 

18.  The  following  parts  of  the  cargo  of  such  vessels  are  subject 
to  condemnation : 

(a)  Enemy  goods; 

(b)  Goods  belonging  to  the  master  and  owner  of  the  vessel,  if  the 
vessel  was  captured  by  reason  of  resistance  (see  art.  16b). 

(c)  Articles  of  contraband,  and  goods  belonging  to  the  owner  of 
the  contraband,  as  provided  for  in  Part  III ; 

(d)  In  case  of  breach  of  blockade,  goods  liable  to  confiscation 
under  art.  80. 


422  APPENDIX 

From  this  reference  in  Article  114  to  Article  18,  which  latter 
depends  upon  Article  17,  referring  to  a  captured  enemy  vessel,  it  is 
plain  that  Article  114  refers  to  the  destruction  of  any  prize,  whether 
enemy  or  neutral.  Therefore,  following  the  regulations,  if  they  do  not 
specifically  mention  enemy  or  neutral  vessels  they  must  apply  gen 
erally.  Article  116  reads: 

Before  destruction,  the  safety  of  all  persons  on  board,  and,  so  far 
as  possible,  their  effects,  is  to  be  provided  for,  and  all  ship's  papers 
and  other  evidentiary  material,  which,  according  to  the  views  of  the 
persons  at  interest,  is  of  value  for  the  formulation  of  the  judgment  of 
the  prize  court,  are  to  be  taken  over  by  the  commander. 

By  this  article  the  destruction  of  no  vessel  can  take  place  without 
first  providing  for  the  safety  of  all  persons  on  board.  This  refers  to 
persons  of  the  enemy  as  well  as  to  persons  of  the  neutral.  This  hu 
mane  rule,  found  in  the  German  Prize  Code  after  the  inauguration  of 
submarine  warfare,  is  identical  with  the  wording  of  the  same  rule  in 
the  Prize  Code  as  it  was  originally  issued  at  the  beginning  of  the  cur 
rent  war. 

The  submarine  warfare  was  entered  into  by  Germany  as  a  measure 
of  reprisal  and  not  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  maritime  warfare, 
which  are  so  well  expressed  in  the  prize  ordinance,  and  the  illegality 
of  the  destruction  of  vessels  without  the  formalities  recognized  by 
their  own  Prize  Code  -in  pursuance  of  a  policy  that  is  itself  illegal  as 
toward  the  interests  of  neutrals,  especially  when  these  interests  involve 
the  sacrifice  of  life,  should  not  be  admitted  for  one  moment  by  this 
Government. 

In  considering  the  issue  of  a  warning  to  American  citizens  against 
traveling  upon  armed  merchant  vessels  of  the  belligerents,  it  must 
not  be  overlooked  that  the  United  States  has  an  obligation  to  protect 
the  property  of  its  citizens  as  well  as  to  protect  their  lives.  If  citi 
zens  are  warned  not  to  intrust  their  lives  upon  armed  merchant  ships 
of  the  belligerents,  the  same  reasons  would  compel  the  United  States 
to  warn  its  citizens  not  to  intrust  their  property  to  armed  merchant 
ships;  for,  as  pointed  out  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  the  right  to 
travel  and  the  right  to  transport  goods  are  legally  identical.  If  the 
warning  be  carried  to  its  logical  results,  there  would  be  a  voluntary 
surrender  of  the  rights  of  American  citizens  to  trade  with  belligerents, 
which  right  it  has  been  sought,  especially  as  it  affects  the  trade  in 
munitions,  to  limit  in  a  direct  way,  and  it  has  been  the  subject  of 
negotiations  in  which  the  United  States  has  already  taken  a  firm 
stand.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  this  Government  should  submit 


APPENDIX  423 

indirectly  upon  a  point  which  it  has  heretofore  declined  to  submit  to 
directly. 

Passing  from  the  subjeot  of  contraband,  it  would  seem  that  if 
this  policy  be  adopted,  it  would  logically  follow  that  a  warning  should 
also  be  issued  to  American  citizens  against  intrusting  non-contraband 
cargoes  to  armed  vessels,  and  that  they  should  be  told  that  if  they 
intrust  their  property  to  such  vessels  and  it  is  sunk  by  a  submarine, 
there  will  result  a  total  loss  and  the  Government  will  not  be  in  a 
position  to  make  a  claim  for  its  value,  because  the  merchant  vessel 
happened  to  be  exercising  its  lawful  right  of  carrying  defensive 
armament. 

The  situation  should  not  be  overlooked  with  which  the  United 
States  would  be  confronted  in  case  a  warning  to  American  citizens 
not  to  travel  upon  armed  merchant  vessels  of  belligerents  be  issued. 
In  view  of  the  variety  of  deceits,  stratagems  and  subterfuges  which 
the  present  war  has  produced,  it  will  have  to  be  determined  definitely 
whether  a  merchant  vessel  comes  within  the  prohibited  class,  not  only 
when  it  sails  from  our  ports  but  also  at  the  time  of  attack.  The 
question  will  also  arise  for  consideration  as  to  the  attitude  which  the 
United  States  is  to  take  if  an  ostensibly  armed  vessel  leaves  our  ports 
with  American  citizens  on  board  and  is  sunk  by  a  submarine  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  armed  after  leaving  an  American  port.  The  ves 
sel  and  probably  all  persons  and  evidence  on  board  for  determining 
the  question  of  armament  will  be  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  The  United 
States  may  provide  for  the  inspection  of  all  belligerent  armed  mer 
chant  vessels  before  they  leave  port,  but  the  Government  operating 
the  submarine  is  at  liberty  to  accept  or  reject  the  finding  of  the 
American  inspector,  and,  if  it  thinks  proper,  to  insist  upon  the  accu 
racy  of  the  report  of  its  submarine  commander.  The  diplomatic 
correspondence  which  has  already  passed  between  the  United  States 
and  other  governments  on  this  point  need  only  be  referred  to  to  show 
the  probability  of  such  an  issue  being  raised.  If  the  United  States 
should  admit  the  contention  of  the  government  so  operating  the  sub 
marine,  it  might  follow  that  all  merchant  vessels  would  be  sunk  upon 
the  ground,  real  or  alleged,  that  they  were  armed.  In  such  a  con 
tingency,  no  real  progress  would  be  made  in  settling  the  issue  which 
has  arisen  by  voluntary  relinquishment  of  the  undisputed  and  im 
memorial  rights  of  American  citizens  to  transport  both  their  persons 
and  property  upon  armed  merchant  vessels  of  belligerents.  A  warn 
ing  issued  to  American  citizens  to  avoid  armed  merchant  vessels  of 
the  belligerents  would,  it  is  believed,  merely  shift  the  point  of  con 
troversy  from  a  discussion  of  the  character  of  the  arming  of  merchant 


424  APPENDIX 

vessels  as  offensive  or  defensive  to  the  broader  question  whether  any 
armament  at  all  is  aboard  the  vessel. 

The  position  this  Government  has  taken  is  briefly  as  follows : 

Neutrals  have  a  right  to  travel  on  merchant  ships  in  time  of  war 
in  the  full  assurance  that  their  lives  are  safe  from  illegal  attack. 

An  unannounced  attack  on  a  merchant  ship  is  illegal. 

Merchant  ships  have  the  right  to  arm  for  defense. 

The  highest  court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  words  of  one  of  its 
most  distinguished  jurists,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  has  distinctly  af 
firmed  this  right,  and  the  United  States  is  therefore  the  last  to  be  able 
to  contest  it. 

The  arming  of  a  belligerent  merchant  ship  impairs  no  neutral 
right. 

As  the  arming  of  a  merchant  ship  for  defense  is  not  illegal  and 
does  not  impair  any  neutral  right  the  United  States  has  no  ground  to 
demand  that  it  be  discontinued  by  the  belligerents  practicing  it. 

It  is  not  illegal  for  a  belligerent  to  destroy  an  enemy  merchant 
ship  after  capture,  whether  that  ship  be  armed  or  not,  provided  that 
the  destruction  be  done  after  the  requirements  of  international  law 
have  been  observed. 

Submarines,  if  they  observe  the  preliminary  requirements  of  inter 
national  law,  are  vessels  that  may,  in  so  far  as  their  status  and  that  of 
their  personnel  is  concerned,  make  captures. 

If,  however,  they  cannot,  owing  to  their  limitations,  observe  all 
the  requirements  of  international  law  in  making  captures,  neutral 
governments  cannot  admit  their  right  to  go  beyond  the  act  of  capture 
and  actually  destroy  merchant  vessels  without  warning,  in  disregard 
of  the  requirements  of  international  law  and  especially  of  the  one 
grounded  on  decency  and  humanity — the  safety  of  innocent  human 
life — without  surrendering  national  self-respect  and  national  sov 
ereignty,  which  would  be  a  betrayal  of  the  national  honor. 

The  United  States  Government  cannot,  without  such  betrayal,  pub 
licly  warn  its  citizens  to  renounce  their  rights  in  the  face  of  a  bel 
ligerent  threat  to  do  an  illegal  act,  for  such  warning  would  be  in  effect 
an  admission  of  the  right  of  submarines  to  destroy  merchant  vessels 
illegally. 

Individual  citizens  are  free  to  act  as  their  individual  judgment 
may  dictate,  but  for  the  United  States  Government  to  advise  them  to 
refrain  from  doing  what  they  have  a  right  to  do  in  safety  according 
to  law,  without  exposing  their  lives  to  danger,  would  be  to  abdicate 
its  function  of  protecting  its  citizens  not  only  in  their  rights  but  in 
their  lives. 


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